Chicagoans Weigh Obama's Rise, Blagojevich's Fall

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

GUY RAZ, host:

This past year has been dramatic politically for Chicagoans. One of the city's politicians is ascending to the White House, and another is descending into scandal. We asked some people at Daily Plaza in downtown Chicago how they're dealing with the transition from Barack Obama's victory to the possible downfall of Rod Blagojevich.

(Soundbite of downtown Chicago)

Ms. MARY HOLLICE (Resident, Chicago, Illinois): It makes us look bad. Like, everybody already thinks, like, oh, you know, gangster city, blah blah blah, and then, like, all of a sudden we have all this crap. It just makes us look even worse.

Mr. JOHN CARNAVAZ (Resident, Chicago, Illinois): I don't think it says anything about Chicago, per se; it's individuals. So, you can't characterize a city by what one person does or doesn't do.

Mr. GARY WILSON (Resident, Chicago, Illinois): Politics is going to be politics, but you know, obviously we should not let this distract from what's happened as far as the electorate overwhelmingly choosing Obama.

Mr. MICHAEL GOLDWATER (Resident, Chicago, Illinois): It bothers me because everyone is all about - everyone was so excited about Chicago. Now it just makes us look like we're a bunch of corrupt - like, state again after we just had all this with Obamas. It's kind of demoralizing, but I mean, what are you going to do? We got fooled.

Ms. MEGAN HORRY (Resident, Chicago, Illinois): Blagojevich represents the old-time Chicago politics. You know that we're all very familiar with and pretty much realize that it's pay-for-play sometimes, and Barack is separate from that and is above that.

RAZ: Some commentary from downtown Chicago. We heard from Mary Hollice(ph), John Carnavaz(ph), Gary Wilson(ph), Michael Goldwater(ph) and Megan Horry(ph).

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.