President Obama supports Quinn, Democrats at Chicago fundraiser

CHICAGO (WLS) -- President Barack Obama went on his way back to the White House after a quick trip to Chicago.

He boarded Air Force One at the airport in Gary, Ind., around 3 p.m. Thursday after a packed schedule during his short time here.

It was an unexpected kind of day for those covering the Illinois governor's race. After being told that the central reason for the presidential visit was to raise money for and support the re-election of Gov. Pat Quinn, not once were reporters able to record video of Barack Obama and the governor together.

All the photographic evidence we have that Democrats saw each other Thursday are two images sent from the Quinn campaign: the president and the governor meeting at some unidentified Chicago location.

We know the president's motorcade left his Kenwood home around 11 a.m. Thursday morning en route to Meredith Bluhm Wolf's home in the Gold Coast neighborhood, where a high-ticket fundraiser was held for the governor. A few curious neighbors waited in vain for a glimpse of their hero, the president.

"He understands working together for the good of the people," said Gale Kryzak, a Gold Coast resident and Obama supporter.

A few blocks away, attorney Manny Sanchez, who supported Obama's re-election in 2012, implored Democrats and centrists like himself to abandon Quinn and vote for Republican candidate Bruce Rauner despite the president.

"When you have a choice, a stark choice like we have in this race, you go with the best candidate. And for me that's easy, that's Bruce Rauner," Sanchez said.

After lunch, the president with the governor in tow - we're told - flew by helicopter to Evanston for his speech at Northwestern University during which he talked about his own success in rescuing the U.S. economy.

"Here are the facts: When I took office, businesses were laying off 800,000 Americans a month. Today, our businesses are hiring 200,000 Americans a month," he said.

After the president left for Washington, Quinn issued a statement saying he was thrilled to have Obama in Chicago supporting his re-election and again touted statistics showing that Illinois' unemployment rate had fallen to its lowest level in six years.