Obama and Giannoulias at Quincy Wednesday

WASHINGTON–Don’t expect President Obama to give a campaign-related shoutout to Illinois Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias when Obama delivers a speech in Quincy on Wednesday because it is a government, not a political event, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said Tuesday.

Obama flew to the Midwest on Tuesday on a swing to include stops in Quincy and events in Iowa and Missouri.

Burton, during a briefing, was asked about Giannoulias, an Obama friend who is the Illinois state treasurer. Giannoulias will be in Quincy in his role as an elected official–not a candidate. All statewide elected officials in the states were invited.

Burton was asked, “Do you think the President is going to acknowledge his presence and talk a little bit about his campaign, which is sort of having some trouble at the moment,” a reference to the failure last week of the family controlled Broadway Bank.

Replied Burton, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for the President to talk about anybody’s campaign at what are all official events.”