Free Republic

<p>Those who read the New York Times's coverage of the unsuccessful results of Barack and Michelle Obama's attempt to seal the 2016 Summer Olympics bid for Chicago on Friday afternoon ('For Obama, an Unsuccessful Campaign") might want to read it again.</p>

Reporting from Washington - In the run-up to the Olympics vote, the White House was getting a clear message from the architects of Chicago's bid: Balloting would be tight, and a personal visit to Copenhagen from President Obama just might lock in a victory. Leaders of the Windy City's campaign to secure the 2016 Games had done some nose-counting and were convinced the International Olympic Committee might well anoint Chicago as host, according to White House officials interviewed Saturday. "The intelligence that we had from the U.S. Olympic Committee and Chicago bid team was that it was very close and...

One can understand an American president’s lobbying for an American city to obtain the Olympics, but the blitz by the Obamas proved a PR nightmare. Let us count the ways: 1) Obama’s brand is trans-nationalism and an “America is not exceptional” multiculturalism. According to his worldview, it makes sense that a South American country — especially a powerful, ascendant country such as Brazil — should at last have its turn at hosting the Olympics. It did not seem consistent that a politician who had reached out to the Castros, Chávez, Morales, and Ortega, in parochial fashion, would lobby for his...

The City of Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting, before any host city was selected. An expert called it the "biggest shock in IOC history." Supporters gathered in Chicago were equally shocked. Many left the rally in tears.