Olympics panel hands Obama stinging defeat

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The International Olympic Committee’s stinging first-round elimination of Chicago on Friday as the site of the 2016 Summer Games probably won’t count much in how history judges Barack Obama’s presidency.

However, in setting aside his weightier responsibilities and jetting off to Copenhagen to make a very personal case for his adopted hometown’s bid — then losing the gamble — Obama suffered an embarrassing defeat, one watched around the world and celebrated by some of his critics.

The conservative Drudge Report Web site’s Headline: “World Rejects Obama: Chicago Out in First Round.”

Tim Reid of The Times of London wrote: “Chicago’s dismal showing today, after Mr. Obama’s personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this president. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good — but carries no heft.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was more circumspect, but still critical.

“While I am disappointed with the IOC’s decision, I look forward to the president returning stateside. ... Our country needs the president’s undivided attention on the urgent issues facing American families today: rising unemployment, soaring health-care costs, winning the war in Afghanistan and dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat.”

Obama, who was said to be alone in his cabin on Air Force One between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia when he watched the IOC’s decision on television, said he was disappointed but had no regrets about making the trip.

“One of the things that I think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win,” the president said in the Rose Garden minutes after he returned. “I believe it’s always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the United States of America and invite the world to come see what we’re all about.”

Obama also said he had called Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to congratulate him on Rio de Janeiro’s win.

Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said that although critics saw this as an opportunity to score points against Obama, voters probably wouldn’t give it much weight.

“My gut is that it’s unlikely that this will be a major factor 13 months from now when voters elect a new Congress,” he said.