View Full Version : The agony of Obama's defeat
Team Sergeant
10-03-2009, 15:04
That was a "Smack-down".:D
That's going to leave a mark.
The agony of Obama's defeat
Tags:Barack Obama,White House,Chicago,David Axelrod,Rahm Emanuel,Copenhagen,2016 Olympics,South AmericaBack to top
By JOSH GERSTEIN | 10/3/09 11:01 AM EDT
POLITICO 44
What was he thinking?
By JOSH GERSTEIN | 10/3/09 11:01 AM EDT
Monday-morning Quarterbacking became Washington’s favorite Olympic sport Friday after President Barack Obama’s in-person pitch failed to bring home the 2016 Olympics to Chicago – and in rather dramatic fashion.
Chicago was knocked out in the first-round of balloting – winning just 18 of 94 votes — making Obama’s trip to Copenhagen seem not just unsuccessful but entirely ineffective.
A few Democrats were glum, some conservatives were downright gleeful and the White House scrambled to explain that Obama had no regrets about making the trip – despite the fact that it exposed the limits to the power of his high-wattage international popularity.
“I have no doubt that it was the strongest bid possible, and I’m proud that I was able to make that case in person,” Obama said after returning to the White House from Copenhagen.
But even before Air Force One made it back to Andrews, political finger-pointing broke out. White House officials insisted that Obama decided to go only after very aggressive lobbying from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who offered assurances that the city’s bid was within striking distance of winning.
Many political pros said they wouldn’t even consider letting Obama put his prestige, popularity and time on the line to go to Copenhagen unless he thought Chicago was a lock, or a near-lock. Some even speculated that Obama must have had some inside information about the strength of Chicago’s bid that prompted him to go – something the White House denied.
But at least one Olympics expert said that if the White House aides truly believed Daley’s assurances, they were simply naïve.
“Obama and his advisers have proven to be less smart post-campaign than in the campaign,” said John Hoberman, a University of Texas professor who studies the International Olympic Committee. “The specter of a smart politician like Obama walking into this is not pretty. The question is whether he took the trouble to consult any sort of expert about what he was getting into…..Really smart people can get swept up in a really ignorant way when it comes to dealing with the Olympic movement. It appears this is what has happened again.”
“This is not a huge hit, but I didn’t think it was worth the risk,” Hoberman said. “At the end of the day, it appears that these crafty Chicago politicians did get themselves in way over their heads.”
Obama also faced questions of whether this defeat would tarnish his reputation abroad at a moment when he’s struggling with a variety of international issues, and whether he let his hometown allegiance get in the way of cool-headed decision-making as to whether he should have invested the power of his office behind the Chicago bid.
Three of Obama’s top advisers – chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and senior advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett – all hail from Chicago.
Even the on-again, off-again nature of the trip contributed to sense that the White House was making it up as they went along. White House aides publicly raised the trip as a possibility, then Obama’s attendance was ruled out, then it was announced that an advance team was scouting for him to go, then the trip was back on. All in the course of a couple of weeks.
Democratic strategist Paul Begala had warned ahead of time that this might be a miscalculation on the part of Obama, already struggling to beat back a growing sense that he’s simply overbooked, what with Iran, Afghanistan, health care and unemployment all crowding for his attention.
“If he doesn't get it, he looks bad,” Begala said on CNN earlier this week. “You know, he does have a full plate. If I was working for him, I'd say, sir, don't go.”
After the vote Friday, Begala reaffirmed his advice, but downplayed the impact of the president’s failed pitch.
“As someone who publicly counseled against the President making this trip, I still admire the guts he showed in taking it. This is a stumble, not a fall,” Begala told POLITICO.
The Republican National Committee questioned why Obama wasn't focusing on all the pressing priorities at home – prompting a sharp reaction from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs who faulted the “gnat-like” nature of the attacks from critics.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/27857.html#ixzz0SuPItUMD
Roguish Lawyer
10-03-2009, 15:12
LOL, thanks for sharing TS
"Even the on-again, off-again nature of the trip contributed to sense that the White House was making it up as they went along. White House aides publicly raised the trip as a possibility, then Obama’s attendance was ruled out, then it was announced that an advance team was scouting for him to go, then the trip was back on. All in the course of a couple of weeks."
IMHO, the above sentences read like the Obama playbook on Healthcare, Terrorists, Afghanistan...etc...:rolleyes:
What a joke that he thought he and his "oh-so-endearing wife," could waltz in, say a few COMPLETELY FAKE words, and win over the world! Reality Bites Mrs. O!
Holly
From the piece provided by TS. (Source is above.)In interviews just after Chicago was knocked out of the running, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod denied any miscalculation in sending Obama – but suggested that Chicago may have been outmaneuvered in the byzantine world of IOC politics.
“I don’t view it as a repudiation of the President or the First Lady,” Axelrod told CNN. ‘There are politics everywhere and there were politics inside that room…..There are a lot of factors that go into this.”
“The president made a very strong bid,” Axelrod said. “It wasn’t strong enough to overcome some of the internal currents there…. There are all kinds of cross-currents in the room. There are relationships.”
Axelrod said Madrid may have benefitted from the advocacy of a former IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, but the White House aide insisted that he was not intimating that any improprieties had occurred. “I’m not suggesting anything nefarious……I m not suggesting anything untowards happened,” Axelrod told CNN.What a crock of guano.
If you're going to accuse people of political dishonesty, look in the mirror first, have the gumption to make a case (rather than insinuate one), and then don't say you're not doing what you're clearly doing.
If president who centers his diplomacy around personal interaction fails to make an eleventh hour bid to get the Olympics in his home town is not a major political defeat then there is no such thing as political defeats.
Team Sergeant
10-03-2009, 15:34
This is also a double edged sword, 70%, SEVENTY PERCENT of the good people of Illinois did NOT want to host the Olympic Games, yet Mayor daley and his Chicago cronnies were going to use every means available to ensure a WIN.....
That tells me the Mayor daley, obama, axelrod, rahm emanuel could give a rats ass about the good people of Illinois have to say or think, they were going to host the Olympic Games whether they wanted to or not.
Stupid people of Chicage and the State of Illinois, the government knows better..... it would have been a "boon" for the labor unions........
Red Flag 1
10-03-2009, 15:41
Thanks TS!
Yet another example of zero over reaching, well beyond his depth. This was a global smack down that he will likely never see . IMHO, there is pathology here. Blindingly naive, constantly overreaching, and a poor grasp of reality. For some reason, zero has a driving need to bask in the media lime light; self indulgence perhaps? Validation for all he does as being great? The main stream media just supports the pathology, and it feeds zero's ego at the expense of ALL reason.:mad:
If zero were not POTUS, it would be a comedy act. Zero is in the same league as the former IL Gov. Given all the players here, we are probably looking at the modern day version of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In; "say goodnight Barrack,.......... goodnight Barrack".
My $.02.
RF 1
If zero were not POTUS, it would be a comedy act. Zero is in the same league as the former IL Gov. Given all the players here, we are probably looking at the modern day version of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In; "say goodnight Barrack,.......... goodnight Barrack".
My $.02.
RF 1
Now that's just funny!!!:D
Well said RF1!
Holly
What I really love about the "loss" of the Games was seeing Daley and The Machine get the smackdown. :p It made my freaking day.
I'd like to thank the IOC, every last one of 'em.
It was Bushes FAULT!!!
I actually believe that Obama and his Team are just that arrogant. With Orca by their side they believed they would win just by showing up. The looks on the peoples faces in the Chicago crowed once they heard they were eliminated. CLASSIC.
I think the so-called 'smack down' was (1) more a result of IOC issues with the USOC than with BHO or whomever, combined with (2) a 'feel good' idea that there has never been an Olympic event in South America so we'll go to Brazil and show how progressive and egalitarian we of the IOC are - and - of course - there's Rio vs Chicago for all that 'fun' beyond the games. ;)
As for the POTUS - I think he's finding out that he's not all he seems to think he might be on the world's stage of major players...and I'm sure there's that sticky little issue of the political capital he undoubtedly owes to the Chicago political machine. :mad:
Richard
I actually believe that Obama and his Team are just that arrogant. With Orca by their side they believed they would win just by showing up. The looks on the peoples faces in the Chicago crowed once they heard they were eliminated. CLASSIC.
Very Well Said Sir!!!:D
Holly
Failed Olympic bid...
Unemployment continuing to increase. Even the much bally-hooed second derivative is bad now...
National debt is up...a lot...
Health care is in trouble....
Sounds as if a certain someone's political capital is starting to be badly overdrawn.
:munchin
I think the so-called 'smack down' was (1) more a result of IOC issues with the USOC than with BHO or whomever, combined with (2) a 'feel good' idea that there has never been an Olympic event in South America so we'll go to Brazil and show how progressive and egalitarian we of the IOC are - and - of course - there's Rio vs Chicago for all that 'fun' beyond the games. ;)
As for the POTUS - I think he's finding out that he's not all he seems to think he might be on the world's stage of major players.
RichardQP Richard--
With respect, might there be two different issues at hand? The first being Chicago not making it out of the preliminary round and the second being Rio getting the games?
In regards to it not being about a smack down in the sense of the IOC saying "Screw you, new guy," that may well be. You have the most unfortunate habit of being correct most of the time and damn hard to counter when you're not:p. (I am not sure I agree with your assessment of early Cold War television situational comedies.:confused:)
However, that the president (a) could not favorably influence the outcome, (b) may have made mistakes in coordination with Chicago-area boosters, (c) made on again off again last minute trip to Copenhagen along with the attendant international media coverage and (apparently requisite) foot in mouth moments, and (d) is being defended by the White House and other interested parties, all suggest that this is a significant disappointment.
It was George Foreman who taught us that when a boxer shakes his head, smiles, and says "That didn't hurt," that it did. YMMV.
...this is a significant disappointment.
Yep - I agree - just think it had less to do with BHO than the on-going and very public squabbles between the IOC and the USOC...but politics are politics and will we ever know for sure? :confused:
Richard
USOC...but politics are politics and will we ever know for sure? :confused:IMO, eventually we will. One can always count on some graduate student in a history program with an interest in sports going "Hey, I'll study the politics and diplomacy of the Olympic movement."
incarcerated
10-03-2009, 18:45
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-olympics4-2009oct04,0,5859370.story
Obama was told a trip to Olympics meeting may clinch Chicago win
By Peter Nicholas
October 4, 2009
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 Summer Games had done some nose-counting and were convinced that 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 therefore well worth our efforts," said Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House advisor. "The message was that . . . a personal appeal from the president would make a huge difference."
....Since the defeat, the White House has defended the trip as a worthy investment of the president's time....
Incarcerated, thank you for the link.:D
A telling comment from the story.So [the president] hedged his bets.One can only dread to think where else he may use that approach when he needs to commit himself.
IMO, eventually we will. One can always count on some graduate student in a history program with an interest in sports going "Hey, I'll study the politics and diplomacy of the Olympic movement."
A Cal grad, I'm sure! :D
A Cal grad, I'm sure! :DMaybe AKV, who may not be enjoying sports much right now (USC-17, CAL-0 12:33 2nd quarter) and decides to peek in while thinking of ways to spend the rest of the evening.:munchin
So our economy is in dire straights, millions are unemployed, you ask the American People to sacrifice. Then you fly at least 2 jets to Copenhagen, spend at least a couple million on jet fuel, who knows how much on room and board and for what.....
Correct me if I am wrong here, but from recollection haven't most or all of recent Olympic Game Host come up short on their ROI for the games?
rltipton
10-03-2009, 20:17
I read that a group of people from Chicago were flying to Copenhagen to present information to prove that Chicago was too corrupt and undeserving to hold the Olympics there. I wonder if their presentation was seen. Anyone know?
Ret10Echo
10-03-2009, 20:19
I read that a group of people from Chicago were flying to Copenhagen to present information to prove that Chicago was too corrupt and undeserving to hold the Olympics there. I wonder if their presentation was seen. Anyone know?
That wasn't the one that was presented?
:D
It's not that the whole trip to Copenhagen wasn't embarrassing enough, but Obama wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Because General McChrystal mentioned in his most recent interview that he had only talked with the POTUS once in the last two months, so Obama schedules a quick meeting with the General in conjunction with his IOC presentation. They met for 25 minutes. I guess he can check that item off his To Do list now.
Afghanistan must be high on the One's list to spend a whole 25 minutes when he could have used that valuable time to go shopping with his wife or just staring at his own loveliness in a mirror.
armymom1228
10-04-2009, 02:19
Yep - I agree - just think it had less to do with BHO than the on-going and very public squabbles between the IOC and the USOC...but politics are politics and will we ever know for sure? :confused:
Richard
I read an article early Sat am (either bbc or usa today) that pretty much stated that the whole freezeout of the USIOC was due to an ongoing squabble over revenue sharing. That the USIOC has been reluctant to share monetary profits with the IOC and, of course, the IOC is a bit miffed over that.
That the IOC had pretty much decided before the meeting in Copenhagen to give the bid to Rio. If you read how the voting went and to whom in the votes went to in each of the rounds it was pretty clear that It would come down to Madrid and Rio in the final round.
kimberly
10-04-2009, 08:55
It's disheartening how the dems and Chicago are so indignant about the loss of the bid. SOMEBODY had to lose. It's like sending Obama and Oprah should have wowed them enough to hand the olympics to Chicago.
Sportsmanship goes a long way; good OR bad.
armymom1228
10-04-2009, 12:44
I found the article I was referencing earlier, finaly.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-10-02-2016-olympics_N.htm
By Vicki Michaelis, USA TODAY
COPENHAGEN — Even the First Couple couldn't keep the USA from finishing dead last in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The President and Mrs. Obama brought their usual charisma to help Chicago in the race won Friday by Rio de Janeiro. But they ran up against bloc voting and the lingering effects of a strained history between U.S. and international Olympic officials.
"I'm deeply disappointed and shocked about Chicago," Australian International Olympic Committee member Kevan Gosper said. "They deserved much better."
FINAL VOTE: Rio wins 2016 Games
IOC voters sent Chicago away with just 18 of 94 first-round votes before handing Rio the opportunity to host the first South American Olympics.
"I hate the fact that these elegant people were here," U.S. IOC member Anita DeFrantz said of the Obamas, "and then our country got treated that way."
The result blunted any perceived "Obama effect" and left the President vulnerable to critics who in recent days questioned whether he should take time out from his usual presidential duties to pitch for his wife's hometown and the city where he launched his political career.
It also leaves U.S. Olympic officials to rethink their plan for regaining favor with their international counterparts. Four years ago, New York went out in the second round of voting for the 2012 Summer Olympics, after which the U.S. Olympic Committee decided to re-formulate and fortify its international relations.
"The United States, within the Olympic movement, hasn't engaged as well as we could have for a long time," said Bob Ctvrtlik, the USOC's vice president, international. "And there's a lot of politics going on. This (host-city vote) isn't just on the merits."
Michelle Obama arrived in Copenhagen earlier this week to meet one-on-one with IOC members. The President flew in Friday morning, addressing IOC members during Chicago's final presentation and shaking members' hands during a coffee break before departing.
His message was one that plays well in international Olympic circles: That it was time for the USA to make "visitors from all around the world feel welcome."
Instead of affirmation, he got a most unwelcome and unforeseen snub.
"I actually feel really sorry," IOC member Rene Fasel of Switzerland said. "Everybody was shocked about the result. That's this kind of vote. It's more an accident. Because everybody expected Chicago and Rio in the end — everybody."
The Obamas were already well on their way home when the end came for Chicago. The Chicago bid team was watching from a room in the convention center where the vote was held.
"We're not going to put this on President Obama," Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan said. "We just didn't win today. That's it."
In part, the result was a classic example of how dangerous the IOC's bloc voting can be even for a frontrunner.
"It was clear there was an effort to make sure Rio got this, and the only meaningful threat to Rio would have been Chicago, so all the friends of Rio were urged to try and make sure Chicago didn't get into that position," IOC member Dick Pound of Canada said.
That meant eliminating Chicago as early as possible by keeping the underdogs of Tokyo and Madrid alive, with members shifting votes as needed. As the voting rounds went on, Rio essentially gained all the losers' votes. The exact machinations are difficult to determine without seeing how each IOC member voted, and the vote was by secret ballot.
"I think there were a lot of people saying, if we don't get it, we'll support you, but we've got to stop Chicago," Pound said. "And that's sport politics, not anything else. It's election management. The Europeans and the Asians are much better at this than (North Americans) are."
Friday's result also was the most striking rejection yet of U.S. attempts to regain premier standing in the Olympic world.
"I don't think it's anti-American. I think maybe we still don't have the horsepower to do the politicking within the movement," Ctvrtlik said.
The efforts of Ctvrtlik and Bob Fasulo, hired as chief of international relations in 2006, have gained the USOC some ground. But Friday's event made it clear they still have a long way to go.
For example, stricter U.S. government controls instituted after 9/11 for any foreigners entering the country long have been a source of friction between U.S. Olympic officials and the IOC. That issue was raised again Friday during the question-and-answer period after Chicago's presentation.
During the presentation, USOC chairman Larry Probst tried to address other underlying tensions, saying he wants to "create a legacy in which the USOC serves the Olympic movement as a vital and trusted partner."
In the last year, the USOC has tangled with the IOC over revenue sharing — the USOC receives 20% of IOC sponsorship revenues and 12.75% of broadcast rights fees while the other 204 national Olympic committees share the rest — and over the USOC's plans to launch a U.S. Olympic network. The IOC is concerned such a network will undercut its U.S. broadcast partner.
The revenue-sharing discussions were delayed until 2013, and the USOC put the network plans on hold.
Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald, who is on the IOC's executive board, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the USOC's revenue share.
"The colleagues who asked me, I said 'I would like you to forget about this, we will try to find a solution, and we should judge Chicago based on the quality of its bid,'" Oswald said, "but everyone has different approach, and I cannot say this has not played a role for a number of people."
Probst said that he didn't think the disputes "had an impact" on the vote.
"I met with dozens of IOC members not only in Berlin (at the track and field world championships in August) but here in Copenhagen and none of those things ever came up in discussions," he said.
Yet Oswald, asked if Friday's result was a defeat for the USOC rather than Chicago, said: "That's my impression, yes."
The USA hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games. It might be foolhardy to try again for 2020 since, after Rio, the IOC likely will want to rotate the Games back out of the Americas.
Not since Los Angeles lost in its bids for the 1976 and 1980 Games has the USA failed to land the Summer Olympics in two consecutive votes. Los Angeles did land the 1984 Games, which because of their unprecedented commercial success, set the IOC on a path to unimagined profitability and considerably enhanced the USA's standing in the Olympic world.
Those gains were lost over the last decade, first with the bid scandal that erupted in advance of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, which revealed the excesses being showered on IOC members by bid cities.
Leadership turmoil at the USOC — the organization had six presidents and CEOs from 2000 to 2003 — further eroded its relationship with the IOC. That turnover abated for a few years but returned in the last year as Probst replaced Peter Ueberroth as chairman and Stephanie Streeter was named acting CEO after Jim Scherr resigned.
"The kind of instability shown by USOC in recent months has not helped," Oswald said. "We had been dealing with some people, and suddenly we heard one has disappeared and one was nearly fired, and you had to start with totally new people. It's also a human relationship. It's always easier to deal with people you know and have full confidence (in)."
In addition to such internal reasons, the globally unpopular policies of the Bush administration post-9/11 greatly hampered the USOC's efforts at improving international relations.
Obama's election last year was seen as an opportunity to turn the tide, because of his open-arms approach and desire to re-engage with the world.
But amid the arcane workings of the IOC, even that, it appears, can not get the USA over the hurdle.
—
I read that a group of people from Chicago were flying to Copenhagen to present information to prove that Chicago was too corrupt and undeserving to hold the Olympics there. I wonder if their presentation was seen. Anyone know?
Not sure but maybe they saw the website ChicagoansforRio.com :D
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/creator-of-pro-rio-web-site-steps-forward.html
Mystery solved: Creator of pro-Rio Web site steps forward
September 28, 2009 12:09 PM | 46 Comments
A 43-year-old Chicago advertising copywriter told the Chicago Tribune today that he was the creative mind behind ChicagoansForRio.com, ending a weeklong mini-mystery surrounding the satirical Web page that sought to raise questions about Chicago support for the city's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Kevin Lynch has a pointed wit and a mild demeanor. He works at a Chicago advertising firm on the Magnificent Mile, but is also the author of a blog on creative marketing. He bought the Web address for ChicagoansForRio last March, when his initial enthusiasm for Chicago's bid began waning.
"I walked from the idea where I thought this was the type of city where something like that would do really well, to questions -- it was just the process after that," Lynch said.
He anonymously took ChicagoansForRio live on Sept. 20, he said, leaking a link to the Web site Chicagoist and NoGamesChicago.com, an organized opponent to the Chicago bid. From there, it became a social media phenomenon on Chicago blogs, Facebook pages and on Twitter.
What was unexpected was the whodunit response to the site, Lynch said. The culmination was a Friday report on the Canadian Olympics watchdog blog GamesBids.com that reported possible -- and, Lynch says, erroneous -- connections between ChicagoansForRio and Brazilian backers of the bid by Rio de Janeiro. The other cities still in consideration for the 2016 Games are Tokyo and Madrid, though many Olympics watchers believe the tightest race is behind the North and South American sites.
On Saturday, a spokeswoman for Rio de Janeiro's bid officially denied any connection between Brazil's Olympic committee and the satirical site in Chicago.
"The intention was not to cause an international incident," Lynch said.
And with a final vote on the 2016 host city coming Friday, what if it swayed International Olympic Committee voters in Copenhagen this week?
"If we don't get the bid, and you can blame it on a one-page Web site? I would suggest the bid wasn't so strong after all. In this contest, you really do have four great cities, and a lot of sentimental logic in Rio for the vote to go that way."
-- James Janega
Leadwolf
10-04-2009, 13:27
I think that his advisers did not understand their Operational Environment neither their Target Audience. Perhaps Mr. Emanuel and his staff need a course in lines of persuasion.
X-Man
Remington Raidr
10-04-2009, 13:49
I would not want to be Kevin Lynch, his employer, his customer, his realtive, or his drinking buddy, or even anywhere within six, no ten city blocks of him. To borrow a line from a red-neck joke . . . hey, y'all watch THIS.