The Lutheran Who Helped Put Barack Obama In The US Senate

[Sen. Paul] Simon died in Springfield, Illinois following heart surgery at the age of 75 in 2003. WBBM-TV reported his death as a "massive gastric blow-out". Just four days before, despite being hospitalized and awaiting surgery, he had endorsed Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid via a telephone conference call he conducted from his hospital bed. He was also an early supporter of Barack Obama's 2004 bid for Senate. After Simon's death, his daughter, Sheila, made a television commercial in which she declared "Barack Obama will be a U.S. Senator in the Paul Simon tradition." The ad was considered a major reason for Obama's surprise victory in the Democratic primary. In the Senate, Obama praised Simon as a "dear friend."