CHICAGO — They say you can never truly go home again, but for Barack Obama, perhaps the old adage doesn’t apply.
Across the country, far more Americans say they disapprove of the president than approve. Democratic candidates in tough races are practically begging Obama to stay away.
But this is Chicago, where support for the town’s favorite son still runs high. Throngs of Chicagoans craned their necks and shouted cheers during Obama’s brief trip home.
Obama arrived here late Sunday and headed straight to an evening campaign rally for the state’s Democratic governor, Pat Quinn. After a night’s sleep in his own bed, he hit the town for a day of events aimed at turning out the Democratic vote.
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Obama had the family house to himself, except for Secret Service agents who lock down the streets around the South Side family home whenever he comes to town.
Obama wants Democrats across the country to vote early this year, hoping to boost turnout in a midterm year when Democrats historically tend not to vote. So he strolled into a polling place near his house on the first day of early voting in Illinois.
‘‘Barack Obama?’’ asked the poll worker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center.
‘‘That’s me!’’ the president replied.
Volunteers making phone calls for Quinn got a pep talk from Obama and a snack.
Making a surprise appearance at one of Quinn’s campaign field offices, Obama brought three cartons of doughnuts.
But would his wife approve?
‘‘Michelle sent these,’’ he quipped, playing off his wife’s childhood nutrition campaign. ‘‘We got broccoli, carrots.’’
Obama seemed in his element as he worked the room and chatted with volunteers — some of whom had worked on his own 2008 campaign.
Before heading back to the White House Monday night, Obama was to make one last stop at a supporter’s home to raise money for the Democratic National Committee. The price to attend? $10,000 a pop.
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