Do the damn thang, brother
Obama routs Democratic foes; Ryan tops crowded GOP field
Hynes, Hull fall far short across state
By David Mendell
Tribune staff reporter
March 17, 2004
Barack Obama, an African-American state senator and former civil-rights lawyer from Hyde Park, won a landslide victory over six competitors Tuesday to assume the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, setting the stage for a crucial contest in November that could tip the balance of power in Congress.
Obama, 42, whose initial campaign strategy was to build a coalition of blacks and liberal whites, instead surprised even his strategists by amassing broad support from throughout the party.
He won over not only urban black voters, but also many suburban whites. With 89 percent of precincts reporting around the state, Obama led his next closest rival, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, by 54 percent of the vote to 23 percent, as expected strong support for Hynes from Chicago's Democratic machine failed to materialize.
"At its best, the idea of this party has been that we are going to expand opportunity and include people that have not been included, that we are going to give voice to the voiceless, and power to powerless, and embrace people from the outside and bring them inside, and give them a piece of the American dream," Obama said in declaring victory.
