The svelte Jennifer Hudson stunned the crowd of 2,400 revelers with her soulful happy birthday serenade to President Barack Obama. The heat was 90 degrees and rising, “this is a warm welcome,” the president quipped.
The fit 50-year-old joked that he’ll “carry an AARP card” as soon as he crossed the stage at the Aragon Ballroom in Uptown, a neighborhood of Chicago.
As President Obama crossed the stage, he paused to greet Rahm Emanuel, who resigned as his chief of staff, and is now the mayor of Chicago.
Then he faced his roaring supporters, “It doesn’t matter how tough a week I have in Washington, because I know you’ve got me — you’ve got my back,” Obama said. “When I come to Chicago, when I travel across the country, I know we can’t be stopped.”
The campaign for 2012 is on with a vengeance, the president added. “We don’t have time to play these partisan games. We’ve got too much work to do … It is going to continue to be challenging every step of the way.”
“But we can do it,” a supporter yelled.
“But we can do it,” Obama repeated. “We have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have.”
