Collinsville Resident Hosts State of the Union Gathering

Collinsville resident Anthony Mecca was one of many Barack Obama supporters who hosted a State of the Union gathering Tuesday night.

Although a few more had planned to attend, Mecca ended up with three guests for the event dubbed "Collinsville for Obama."

But despite the small crowd, the participants said it was a great opportunity and event, especially since none had met before Tuesday.

"It's interesting to meet people who are involved in politics," said Bob Senk of Burlington.

Senk, who is also involved in Burlington politics, said he found the president's speech interesting and feels Obama has accomplished many things and could do so much more with the cooperation of Congress.

Mecca said the biggest thing he took from Obama's speech was a sense of "fairness doctrine."

"Things should be fair for everybody," he said. "I think we're going to hear a lot more of that."

Mecca said he is a past contributor and received an e-mail about from the campaign about hosting an event. While he has been politically involved and done some campaigning for Congressman Chris Murphy, Mecca said Tuesday was the most active thing he has done so far.

“This will be my most active involvement to date,” he said prior to the event.

He also said he wants to help the president.

"I support the president’s vision for the direction of the country,” Mecca said.