Obama’s Olympics failure will haunt him in future
ByOK, so it wasn’t health care, climate change or war. Still, President Barack Obama’s high-profile failure to win the Olympics for Chicago could feed negative narratives already nipping at his heels — that he’s a better talker than closer, more celebrity than statesman.
And this could hamper his efforts on the weightier issues.
Despite Obama’s fabled charm and powers of persuasion, his in-person plea for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Games fell flat. It was a hugely embarrassing defeat. His adopted hometown — considered a front-runner heading into Friday’s voting — didn’t just lose, it took last place, shocking nearly all by getting knocked out in the first round while the remaining three contenders moved on.
The defeat could soon be a distant memory, and may never be more than a quixotic-blip trip. But if, for whatever reason, bigger losses start piling up in Obama’s corner, his performance in this case could be regarded as emblematic.
Obama tried to put the best face on his trip, saying upon his return to the White House, “One of the things that I think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win.” He said he was proud of everyone’s effort.
However, almost every aspect of his involvement this week in the Olympics quest recalls a strain of criticism that has been gaining ground on him:
• He’s trying to do too much at once.
The line is familiar by now: It’s nuts for Obama to tackle the dismal economy, the overhaul of two wars, a remaking of the U.S. health care system and climate change all in one year, and with other difficult issues on the agenda as well.
He has achievements to be proud of in less than nine months in office. But with most of the bigger issues still in the air, voters — even some in Obama’s own Democratic Party — are beginning to wonder whether he’s someone who tries a lot but succeeds at little, and whether he has the sense to focus on the most important things. A jaunt across the Atlantic, and an extraordinarily expensive one at that, doesn’t help.
• He doesn’t have what it takes to close a deal.
The why-Chicago-lost story has many contributors, with Obama’s last-minute flight to Copenhagen for an emotional appeal probably among the least of them. Regardless, he is now tied inexorably to Chicago’s defeat, and that verdict isn’t good.
• He is a celebrity, for sure, but is that always a good thing?
Remember how Republican John McCain tried to stoke doubts about Obama during last year’s presidential campaign by calling him all flash and no pan? A bit of that is in play here, too, where some perceive Obama as arrogantly relying too much on his celebrity status and not enough on the nitty-gritty work of winning votes. For instance, some IOC members resented the fact that Obama blew into Copenhagen for just five hours, jetting back down the runway toward Washington hours before the result was even announced.
“It can be that some IOC members see it as a lack of respect,” said former IOC member Kai Holm.
• He’s too casual with the use of his own time.
This White House has been drawing questions about its tendency to turn to Obama as its only closer, with not much of a bench. Other White Houses have been more judicious about deploying their most precious resource, the president — doing so only when really needed, and usually only when they know they can win. This reduces the chances of overexposure reducing his effectiveness.
It might have been wiser to know more about the vote count before he boarded Air Force One. In hindsight, there was plenty of reason to doubt Chicago’s chances.
• He’s junior varsity-league, still learning on the job.
The votes of IOC members are notoriously hard to count ahead of time. But so are those in the U.S. Capitol. Will Obama do as poorly predicting how health care votes are leaning in Congress, and make similarly ill-fated strategic decisions as that long and complicated debate unfolds through the fall?
Keep in mind: If Obama had not gone to Denmark and Chicago lost, he no doubt would have been blamed for not making an effort. He tried, as he often does, to thread the needle — make the trip, but make it a quick one to deflect questions about taking time away from the pressing health care and Afghanistan debates.
Aides said the president viewed the trip as worth it, despite the painful outcome. “If you can’t do more than one thing at a time,” said spokesman Robert Gibbs, “the president wouldn’t have gotten through the first day.”
But the president risks seeing the pool of his easy doubters grow with each misstep, even these smaller ones.
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Jennifer Loven is AP White House Correspondent and has covered the White House for the AP since 2002. Julie Pace reported from Copenhagen.
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Obama was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t. Imagine the flack if he hadn’t went?
The IOC knows what a inconvenient, humiliating mess it is to get into the US thru customs and immigration. I don’t think they wanted to inflict that on the rest of the sports loving world. Much of the world is well aware of the xenophobia Olympic tourists would have to face coming here. Better they go somewhere they’re actually wanted.
Maybe they were doing us a favor not having the security worries that would run rampant all the way to 2016. I know they did themselves a favor not picking picking Chicago.
Woody, that is exactly what I understood from my own correspondence. The denial of Chicago should be the wake up call to all Americans that just possibly our reputation on this planet is not good.
We had no lesser of two evil choices last November which is why many of us wrote in Ron Paul.
American values are no longer our independence and the GOP had everything to do with this. The GOP still sits in the lap of a one world order forcing not only democracy across the world but the hint (I’m being careful here) of Christianity fixing what ails humans.
What a pantload this article is: I don’t recall President Obama being put in charge of the US Olympic Committee! They were responsible for the 2016 Chicago proposal, and their efforts fell short of the other contenders. Host city decisions are never about the popularity or competence of a country’s leader. Just because Obama was willing and able to show up and add his support to Chicago’s bid, doesn’t mean this is somehow a great harbinger of failure.
Let’s just see how the President does over the next couple of years. Once the health care reform bill is passed and the economic recovery expands, look for reelection by an even larger percentage.
Perhaps the IOC was making a statement about the US invasion of 3 countries and US threats to invade at least one other. The Olympics, games of goodwill and peace, have a history of doing these things.
Obama isn’t the only failure. Look in the mirror you fascist imperial pigs. To say and do nothing is silent agreement.
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Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain
Recovery???
I just hate AP stories. They pretend to be reporting, but more and more they are really right-wing carping in disguise. Lots of whining and complaining, no quotes or sources except a “former IOC official.”
The official’s name is Kai Holm, as the story indicates.
So what???
President Obama put forth an effort and failed. So what? Who really cares?
The Olympics bring billions of dollars in spending and infrastructure improvement to its host city. Why shouldn’t a president expend some effort in making a pitch for it? Maybe it was known that the bid was failing and he went to make a last ditch effort to save it. As far as flying off when he has important issues at home such as the economy, health insurance, and foreign affairs problems, just because he was away, doesn’t mean he wasn’t working on those things. Telephones and teleconferencing are marvelous ways of closing long distances. In any event, Rio is a good choice since South America has never hosted an Olympics, and could be a great environment for it. I just hope they can pull it off.
acf, I heard some rumors that the Olympic committee was down on America in general. Is our reputation tainted in these committees? I was shocked to realize how insulting Governor Palin was when she spoke in Japan. Many European internet users speak rudely of America.
We need to change our image of greed and power running the American show. Palin has the freedom to say what she wants, but she should not be representing our government abroad until she learns some manners.
The first Amendment is a valuable asset to all Americans but hopefully we know better than to make insulting comments abroad.
I hope what I heard on the news was wrong….
My point is that this is an opinion piece, thinly disguised as news.
No news there!
Opinion, entertainment, etc., defines the MSM of today.
Don’t care.
Don’t care.
Don’t care.
Don’t care.
Don’t care.
I tuned into MSNBC for some news and someone reported that Rush, Beck and many Republicans cheered the fact that America lost the Chicago Olympics. Even Pat Buchanan was upset that the GOP would cheer this loss.
To the GOP, those who applaud anying American are no longer Patriots. The GOP will continue to dig themselves into a black hole very soon.
There must be some good strong Americans left on this planet. I need a good political party again and the GOP no longer represents my needs. It is very simple in my very simple mind that unless we get two parties back we are doomed for a full government control over everything. Does this make me the enemy? The right slipped into a party for Christians only and that does not fit me at all. Do I just go away and forget what America means?
I have fallen in love with the “National Parks” new program and it reminds me of what a real Conservative used to be. I was born green and fought off the destruction of our beautiful resources. I want to be free to believe in God or not to. Our American freedoms are being destroyed by both parties and I am depressed!
The GOP leaders demand that we hate half the American people and I will not fall into that category.
LMAO! Chicago is my favotite city next to Boston and we go at least twice a year. Stay right at the Allegro Hotel in the theater district and for the life of me I have no idea why the people of Chicago would wish this mess upon themselves. That will be weeks of tied up traffic, expense that IMO will not meet what the high rollers will spend and a Big Dig type mess for years getting ready for it.
President WOW (Walk On Water) failed? Yeah….to me the failure was even going for it.
As far as the GOP? I imagine there is a small group cheering on any percieved failure of WOW. Saw the same with Bush from the other side. No big deal.
Actually bogo. There is a difference between this anger and prior to Clinton. There are certain sites that are praying for Obama’s death. They have petitions out to impeach him for not being an American citizen. I’m no Democrat but only the people can change the party in charge. The GOP lost it in November as their choice of leaders was again lacking in integrity. I remember the mess when Dole had no backing and had no agenda. I attended that Conference in San Diego and walked out in fury when many hissed and booed the Republican Congressman from Arizona only because he was gay.
I lived in the Central Coast of California when the Olympics were in Los Angeles and every city, park and places like the Hearst Castle made more money prior to and after those Olympics than we did all year. I had a book store with both my windows filled with the flags and even some gold/silver and bronze metals. My book store was on Main Street and the entire area around my County had the passion of competition. I could not even tell you how America did in the games but California had a sense of pride so vast we can still feel it. That old Collesium that was built the year I was born and with a fresh coat of paint and upgraded plumbing was a wonder to behold.
The anger in America is enough to spoil any part of our nation to display the Olympics and until we get over this horror of hatred for others, we are best set aside until we learn some manners.
I don’t know how we can as both sides are very bad sports when faced with a little stress. I remember when the elections were great fun and my entire family got involved. Impossible at this time as far as the games being considered for Chicago. Americans will have to go to bed without their dinner until they grow the hell up.
Given the empty rhetoric and fluff then candidate Obama was tossing out last year, no one who voted for him should claim to be surprised at his lackluster performance to date. Add to this the fact that most of his adult life was spent within or on the edges of academia or flitting across the surface of Chicago politics, one should have been aware of his lack of depth relative to the real world of working men and women.
Fortunately for him, he had several things going in his favor. First, his only serious opponent for the nomination was a life-long power freak and common pol from New York. Second, candidate Obama was the “Magic Negro” white, race-obsessed modern liberals were desparate for (leaving African-American pundits and other African-American mouthpieces to question whether candidate Obama was “Black enough”). Third, after snagging the Democratic nomination, his opponent was John McCain, who garnered as much excitement among the Republican base and Independent voters as a bologna sandwich at a steak barbeque, resulting in an “anybody but him” attitude. Fourth, the financial system froze up and put the economy into a tailspin just before the election (else McCain, as icky as it may be to envision, would probably be president, today). So, I end this comment as I started it, no one who elevated him to god-likestatus and voted for him has any room to complain.
Yours,
Issodhos
Hi issodhos
“a bologna sandwich at a steak barbeque” [re: John McCain]…extract from post my brackets
Great imagery, supported by spot-on analysis…!
Thanks for nailing down this President’s less than sterling performance to date and as to why this is so. : )
Carl Nemo **==