Obama's $1.74 million party

President-elect Barack Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park cost Chicago taxpayers $1.74 million, turning up the heat on the cash-flush Obama campaign or the Democratic National Committee to reimburse the city.

Mayor Daley had predicted that more than 1 million people would attend the rally and that the election night extravaganza would require the city to spend $2 million.

Although the crowd of 240,000 turned out to be one fourth the size the mayor anticipated, Daley's cost estimate was nearly on the mark.

More than $1 million was spent on police protection alone.

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Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt had no immediate comment on the city's itemized bill. Instead, he referred questions to the Democratic National Committee.

"It was a DNC-sponsored event. We're discussing it with the city," said party spokeswoman Stacie Paxton.

In late October, Daley assured reporters that the Obama campaign would reimburse the city for every penny spent on the rally.

"We have a financial crisis. . . .The city of Chicago could not afford $2 million on this because we're gonna be laying off people, cutting back," Daley said. "This is a political event and they've agreed to pay for all those services -- all the expenses of that. . . . It's costly, but they raised quite a bit of money. There's no [shortage] of money in that campaign."

After weeks of preparation and civic angst, the Obama rally went off without a hitch. Afterward, Daley breathed a sigh of relief and passed out compliments to the law enforcement officers and peaceful participants who made it possible.

"It was a homecoming. It was a baptism. It was a bar mitzvah. It was everything put together. . . . People from all walks of life -- no matter who you were -- came all together," he said.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/o ... 09.article