WASHINGTON– Setting the record straight: Democratic Illinois Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias–the Illinois treasurer was invited–in his official role as a statewide elected official–to join President Obama at his Wednesday afternoon event in Quincy.
The Quincy stop–where Obama will deliver a speech on Wall Street reform–is on Obama’s Illinois, Missouri and Iowa swing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Giannoulias will attend.
The invitations to all the Illinois statewide elected officials, from Gov. Quinn on down, came from the White House on Monday morning, sent by Chelsea Kammerer, Special Assistant to the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs ( a shop that at the top is overseen by White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.)
The White House also invited Iowa and Missouri statewide elected officials to Obama stops in their states.
I know there is chatter out there that Giannoulias was somehow snubbed by the White House over the Quincy event that started last week, when Giannoulias said Quincy was not on his schedule. The chatter was fueled by the failure last week of his family-controlled Broadway Bank.
Obama is visiting Illinois, Missouri and Iowa on a government, not a political trip–though the White House will distribute some VIP tickets for local politicos.
Guidance from the White House: On Tuesday, the President will continue the White House to Main Street tour with stops in Iowa. In the early afternoon, he will tour Siemens Energy Inc Facility in Fort Madison and then share ideas with workers for continuing to grow the economy and to put Americans back to work. He will then make a stop in Mt. Pleasant. Later in the afternoon, President Obama will hold a town hall meeting in Ottumwa at Indian Hills Community College. On Wednesday, the President will hold events in Macon, Missouri and Quincy, Illinois. He will return to Washington, DC on Wednesday night.