Should President Barack Obama have lobbied to hold the 2016
Olympics in Chicago?
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
“Should President Barack Obama have lobbied to hold the
2016 Olympics in Chicago?” Yes: 8 No: 3
? Karen Anderson: “No. He wasted his political capital and lost some respect internationally.”
? Bert Berson: “Yes, the other heads of state did.” n Chris Bryant: “From a political world view, this is no different than the lobbying done by other country leaders.”
? David Cohen: “Yes. The president was right to go to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago to host the Olympics, just as the leaders of Brazil and Japan did for their organizing committees.”
? Dennis Kennedy: “Yes! The potential benefits to the U.S. made it worth the effort.”
? Julian Mancias: “Yes. The Olympics are a great way to enhance positive relations with other nations around the world.”
? Linda McNulty: “Lobbied, yes, but taking Air Force One to Denmark at taxpayer expense, no. Obama is the first U.S. president to ever appeal in person to the Olympic committee. Further concerning is their miscalculation regarding our chances of winning, since Chicago was the first to be eliminated.”
? Henry Miller: “Of course he should have. Unfortunately, it was a lose-lose situation for him. If he didn’t go, he would be criticized for not supporting our Olympic goals. If he went, he shouldn’t have but should have stayed at home to tend to other business. If he went and we didn’t win, he would be blamed for not doing a good enough job. If he went and we won, it wouldn’t have mattered if he went or not. Ah, politicks.”
? Lisa Pampuch: “Yes. As Salt Lake Olympics Chief and Republican Mitt Romney noted, it would be worse for Obama to not go AND the U.S. to not get the games. What’s truly wrong are those who cheered the US’s loss of the games; this reveals them as ideologues and not patriots.”
? Emily Shem-Tov: “Sure, the leaders of other contending locations were there and it was good to show pride and support – it didn’t seem to make a difference but if he didn’t go people would have blamed that. I’m sure Rio will be a fantastic venue.”
? Steve Staloch: “No. Copenhagen is not a motorcade away from Washington and for the President of the United States to be a pitchman for an all-but-guaranteed money-losing sporting event is Bush-league. Send the V.P. or John Madden, or better yet, Jimmy Carter, who also spent too much of his presidency micromanaging minutia.”
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