Will Obama's Support For Chicago Olympics Hurt Him?

Last month president-elect Barack Obama vowed to end the old system of awarding federal goodies to friends.

But I'm not sure the call for productive and prudent public spending applies to the expensive wish lists of his hometown the same way it does to those of, say, the Detroit auto industry.

With modern capitalism crashing around our ears, the city is moving forward, full speed ahead, with its plans to stage the 2016 Olympics. Mayor Daley and his Olympic planners were just in Istanbul , wooing members of the International Olympic Committee. Among the highlights of their trip was the presentation of a videotaped pitch from Obama, made at their request, telling Olympics organizers that he'd be proud to see the games in his hometown. In January the city will submit its official bid to the IOC, and next October the IOC will choose Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, or--gulp--Chicago to host the 2016 games.

So far the prospect of hosting the Olympics hasn't inspired widespread opposition in this city. Daley contends this is because Chicagoans are 100 percent behind the games. I, on the other hand, have long suspected that most Chicagoans simply aren't paying much attention--it's been hard enough to keep track of the presidential race and the economic meltdown without looking eight years down the road.

Furthermore, Daley has done a masterful job--and you really have to give him credit for this one--of shielding the public from any specific details of his Olympics plans: almost no one knows enough about them to decide whether the games would be a boon or a boondoggle.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[clsmithj]

It will hurt him by winning the Presidency of the United States.

[MontereyDean]

Ya think someone actually got paid to write that story? And someone else got paid to find it and post it on Huffington Post? And someone else probably got paid to review and approve it before it got posted. Little wonder the world's in trouble.

[RomeoinFl]

The next story should be "If Obama goes out in the cold and get sick, is he fit to lead?"

Maybe we need to start the election all over again. These stories are depressingly bad

[Fongenie]

Hahaha! Seriously.

[ArmyCentrist]

Why wouldn't he want his adopted hometown to be the site for the Olympics? What kind of bs story is this?

[hrhkat29]

I KNOW! If I was president I would love to have the Olympics back in LA. I hope we get the olympics so we can show the chinese what a real olympic ceremony looks like, one that doesnt involve lipsinging or fake fireworks. If he does one thing in his presidency I hope he gets Chicago the Olympics, I would be soooo P.Oed if Tokyo gets it, its crowded enough. Especially if the Chicago Spire is done by then, it would be the best torch ever if at the top of the spire was the flame, and the flame would be lit from the bottom and spiral up to the top of the 2000 feet tower, it would be breath taking. It would look like a giant birthday candle. I would start buying realestate in Chicago now just incase lol.

[Bitsko]

Wake me when this lame excuse for a story is over.

[Clare53]

HuffPo has a whole lot more where that came from.

[helenwheels]

No