Progress Illinois

Originally posted at 1:08 PM on August 27.

It's the third day of the DNC here in Denver and the Illinois delegation meeting this morning was quite eventful.  After speeches by Gov. Blagojevich, Rep. Bobby Rush, and Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. took the stage and proceeded to literally embrace the spirit of unity.  First, he hugged Rush, who recently survived a bout with cancer. "Bobby, if there's anything I've ever done to offend you," Jackson said, "I'm leaving it at this convention.

Then he addressed the Sun-Times Michael Sneed: "If you weren't a journalist I'd come up here and hug you. ... I have no bone to pick with you."  (For more on the history between Jackson, Rush, and Sneed, read this and this.)

He went on to call up State Sen. Debbie Halvorson and give her a hug.  "Lord knows I want to build an airport in the South Suburbs," he said.  "But make no mistake about it: I want a Democratic Congress more than I want some guy named Ozinga."

Jackson then asked: "Who else out here been mad at me?"  At that point, Mayor Daley sprung to his feet and gave the congressman a hug, bringing him to tears.

But the climax came after Jackson dried his eyes and returned to the podium.  At that point, he said: "I'm not going to be satisfied until I see Michael Madigan give Rod Blagojevich a hug."  And yes they did.

Video of the whole thing coming very soon.

UPDATE: Here's our clip of the events detailed above.  It's seven minutes long.  I recommend watching the whole thing.  The Blagojevich-Madigan hug comes at about the five-minute mark.

UPDATE II: Be sure to check out this report on the morning meeting from WBEZ's Ben Calhoun. 

Here's how it concludes:

Cynics could wonder whether Jackson, whose family has connections to Michelle Obama's, had planned the stunt to blunt stories about the poisonous relationships in Barack Obama home delegation.

They could wonder whether all the hugging actually meant anything.

But for those who watched, it all seemed genuine.

Shortly after everyone left, Jackson and Blagojevich were seen on the street, hugging.