Obama Suffers Humilating Defeat Over 2016 Olympics

October 3, 2009 (LPAC)—Despite a last-minute trip to Copenhagen so that he could personally lobby for Chicago to be selected as the site of the 2016 Olympics, President Obama's hometown was eliminated in the first round, coming in last among the four finalists. Rio de Janeiro was the International Olympic Committee's final selection.

Within minutes, the news was flashing around the world. The widely-read Drudge Report ran the screaming headline: "The Ego Has Landed: World Rejects Obama: Chicago Out in the First Round!"

BBC ran the following commentary: "The shock of Chicago's elimination was greater for the fact that it came in the first round. And greater for the fact that President Obama had taken valuable hours from his packed and tense political schedule to travel to Copenhagen. His legendary powers of persuasion will be said to have failed him, though in reality it will be Chicago's bid that failed him. Nonetheless, this is a moment which allows the President's detractors to allege waning prestige on the part of his presidency. And it will raise questions about the political advice that he is receiving."

A London Times commentary was headlined: "Obama's Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency." The Times says it was a "stunning humiliation" for Obama, that "the sheer scale of the defeat was a bombshell," etc. Now, the perception is that Obama's "soaring rhetoric ... is simply not enough when it comes to confronting the myriad challenges of the Presidency."

London's Daily Telegraph's headline said: "Barack Obama Faced Embarrassment and Criticism Last Night After His Personal Intervention Failed To Win the 2016 Olympics for Chicago."

The City of Chicago and its financial elite spent an estimated $50 to $100 million in promoting their failed bid. One of the issues raised with regard to Chicago was the difficulty many foreigners have entering the U.S. in the post-9/11 period. The New York Times noted that in the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Pakistani IOC member Syed Shahid Ali asked how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be 'a rather harrowing experience.'" Obama stepped in to answer the question—apparently not very convincingly. The New York Times also says that "The 10-person Chicago bid team, led by the President and Mrs. Obama, put on a presentation heavy on emotion and visual images without getting too deep into the details of the bid."