Posted on 10/02/2009 1:44:08 PM PDT by Steelfish
For Obama, An Unsuccessful Campaign
By PETER BAKER October 2, 2009
COPENHAGEN — President Obama not only failed to bring home the gold, he could not even muster the silver or bronze.
A dramatic 20-hour mission across the ocean to persuade the International Olympic Committee to give the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago proved such a miscalculation that his adopted hometown finished fourth of four candidate cities.
Rarely has a president put his credibility on the line on the world stage in such a personal way and been slapped down so sharply in real time. While Chicago may have lost to Rio de Janeiro for all sorts of reasons that had nothing to do with Mr. Obama, the fact that he made himself the face of the city’s bid invariably meant it would be taken as a stinging rejection of its favorite son.
The defeat will be used as a political metaphor and raise painful questions. Why did he invest so much time, taxpayer money and, perhaps most important, presidential prestige in a losing effort? How did he misjudge the potential vote so badly that Chicago evidently was not even in the top tier? What does it say about a leader who may be far more popular abroad than his predecessor yet has trouble converting that esteem into tangible benefits for the United States?
The rejection of Mr. Obama’s plea for Chicago came at a time when he could have used a feel-good victory. After racking up legislative and policy successes in the early months of his presidency, he has entered a phase where progress is more difficult. He has run into turbulence trying to pass health care, climate change and financial regulation legislation, and his poll ratings have slipped notably since spring.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Now he can return to his fulltime job of losing American prosperity and losing the war in Afghanistan.
“JACKASS’
As he couldn’t be bothered to talk about Iran with Allies or talk to the General about Afghanistan I would like to see what exactly is being shipped back in the cargo hold of Air Force 1?
So much for Zer0 being the MAN to resurrect the US butt in the international arena.
But he got the Gold in FAIL!!!
:)
BWAAAHAHAHA! That is awesome! WTG Brasil!
}:-)4
Can You Say;
Epic FAIL!
Super-creative! says it all.
Haha that guy really looks like him. So many bad ideas filling my head right now...
Wow if this is how michele ‘takes no prisoners’, we are going to be o.k. after all!!
Everything about Obama is "Image"...That very same "virtual world" of which Sarkozy spoke.
The IOC didn't fall on their knees for him!! Thank you Mr. Sarkozy!!
Drudge has it listed as:
0bama + Michelle X Oprah = 0
I think it is more like:
0bama X Michelle X Oprah = 0
Guess which is is the zero that negated all the others?
ROTFLMAO!!!
Thank you King Obama. I appreciate all the jobs and prosperity you have brought to this country.
9.8% unemployment rate. This is now YOUR economy!
He’s a better bowler than a pitchman
How much money are we now going to give Rio to build it’s Olympic Village?
Chicago - dead last...
“After racking up legislative and policy successes in the early months of his presidency, he has entered a phase where progress is more difficult”
Just because he had policies forced through by a majority in Congress doesn’t make them a success.
No....One article made a point of it....
There have been others. Just not from the U.S.
Waterloo!
““Nearly one year ago, on a clear November night, people from every corner of the world gathered in the city of Chicago or in front of their televisions to watch the results of the U.S. presidential election,” Mr. Obama told the committee. “Their interest wasn’t about me as an individual. Rather, it was rooted in the belief that America’s experiment in democracy still speaks to a set of universal aspirations and ideals.””
‘One year ago, the world rejoiced in my election, I was applauded, I am adored, you must send the Olympics to this city because they were so happy I was elected’.
Good grief.
Very nice imaging!
Chicago and dead is used a lot nowadays in a sentence!
Yo, Barackski. That gooey stuff you’re chewing on is called a CRAP SANDWICH. Get used to the flavor.
Anyway you cut it this fool that cheated his way into the Presidency couldn’t pour pi$$ out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel. Accordingly he has surrounded himself with misfits and thugs and fortunately the IOC has just gave them a lesson:
Talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey a lesson that zero hadn’t learned until today!
ROFL!!!! great pics
Blame it on Axelrod!
Because his former PR firm did all the work and was paid millions for the project of presenting Chicago’s bid.
Follow the money trail!
This needs to be investigated.
Four of the five co-chairs of Obama’sinaugural committee continue to have unpaid leadership roles in Chicago 2016, including Pat Ryan, the chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016; John Rodgers, the treasurer and director of Chicago 2016; Bill Daley, the former Clinton administration commerce secretary and brother of the Chicago mayor; and Penny Pritzker, the Chicago businesswoman and Hyatt hotel heiress who led Obama’s meteoric presidential campaign fundraising.
Pritzker’s family also owns or manages a handful of hotels singled out by Chicago 2016 as accommodations for Olympic workers, press and family members.
Ryan and Priztker each contributed $100,000 or more to Chicago 2016, as did White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, an Obama family friend, who also served on the Chicago committee. It still counts Obama confidant and vacation companion Eric Whitaker among its members. Jarrett was replaced as vice chair by Martin Nesbitt, the treasurer of Obama’s campaign and another Obama family insider.
ASK Public Strategies, the Chicago-based corporate public relations company founded by Obama political guru David Axelrod and owned and run by some of Obama’s top presidential campaign consultants, was paid “in the tens of thousands” of dollars by Chicago 2016 to do “communication management [and] communication planning,” said former Axelrod partner Eric Sedler, who did not work for the Obama campaign but is in Copenhagen, along with Pritzker and Jarrett.
“ASK has worked on the bid for three years and for two thirds of that time our work has been pro bono,” said Sedler, who would not speculate on whether the company would be in line for more Olympic work if the IOC picks Chicago.
Excellent translation. Good grief it is!
Please tell me he didn’t really say that. No wonder he lost it, if so. How arrogant.
Maybe the Danes and IOC do not like Chicago thugs and grifters like O, Michelle and Oprah. LOL! They are scum.
Diogenes, is now in Crook County still looking for his honest man.
OK- that means this is left up to the WSJ and FoxNews.
How about this: Barack 0bama + Michelle 0bama + 0prah = 0
thank you for the answer:) and I’m glad because it doesn’t seem very presidential to me
~ ~ Pwnd President Peter Principle ~ ~
~ ~ The EGO has landed ~ ~
??
The 1936 Olympics were awarded to Berlin 2 years before Hitler and the Nazis came to power.
Also:
“Jesse Owens’s participation in the Olympics was controversial because of his race, at a time when segregation and discrimination against blacks were the norm in much of the United States. However, once in Berlin, Owens was able to freely use public transportation and enter bars and other public facilities without the difficulty he would face as a black man in the United States.....”
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Summer_Olympics
Losing shouldn’t be a big deal to him since he already said he’s NOT interested in VICTORY.
Oh....wait.....that was only for our troops...not for a sports event that would have further enriched his den of thieves at more taxpayer expense.
Cut the guy some slack. He got one of these:
A deluxe edition of the IOC Site Selection Home Game, and a years supply of Rice-a-Roni.
No, that is my translation of that paragraph.
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