Reader contributed pics from Springfield and Chicago

A valued and loyal reader has kindly sent in some shots they took both in Springfield and at the announcement event at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Captions are mine.

The motorcade parked outside Obama's hotel.

Security, of course, was necessarily massive, with observers on rooftops and a helicopter circling the airspace. I guess you can't have a large civic event anymore without being in the shadow of many, many guns.

Obama delivers his speech.



Obama and wife Michelle wave to the crowd.

The crowd at UIC.

Obama speaks in Chicago.