Posted on 10/02/2009 2:14:23 PM PDT by Brandonmark
WASHINGTON — OK, so it wasn't health care, climate change or war. Still, President Barack Obama's high-profile failure to win the Olympics for Chicago could feed negative narratives already nipping at his heels — that he's a better talker than closer, more celebrity than statesman.
And this could hamper his efforts on the weightier issues.
Despite Obama's fabled charm and powers of persuasion, his in-person plea for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Games fell flat. It was a hugely embarrassing defeat. His adopted hometown — considered a front-runner heading into Friday's voting — didn't just lose, it took last place, shocking nearly all by getting knocked out in the first round while the remaining three contenders moved on.
The defeat could soon be a distant memory, and may never be more than a quixotic-blip trip. But if, for whatever reason, bigger losses start piling up in Obama's corner, his performance in this case could be regarded as emblematic.
Obama tried to put the best face on his trip, saying upon his return to the White House, "One of the things that I think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win." He said he was proud of everyone's effort.
However, almost every aspect of his involvement this week in the Olympics quest recalls a strain of criticism that has been gaining ground on him:
_ He's trying to do too much at once.
The line is familiar by now: It's nuts for Obama to tackle the dismal economy, the overhaul of two wars, a remaking of the U.S. health care system and climate change all in one year, and with other difficult issues on the agenda as well._ He doesn't have what it takes to close a deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
It’s not the Olympics; it’s all that other s**t.
Blame it on Axelrod!
Because his former PR firm did all the work and was paid millions for the project of presenting Chicago’s bid.
Follow the money trail!
This needs to be investigated.
Four of the five co-chairs of Obama’sinaugural committee continue to have unpaid leadership roles in Chicago 2016, including Pat Ryan, the chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016; John Rodgers, the treasurer and director of Chicago 2016; Bill Daley, the former Clinton administration commerce secretary and brother of the Chicago mayor; and Penny Pritzker, the Chicago businesswoman and Hyatt hotel heiress who led Obama’s meteoric presidential campaign fundraising.
Pritzker’s family also owns or manages a handful of hotels singled out by Chicago 2016 as accommodations for Olympic workers, press and family members.
Ryan and Priztker each contributed $100,000 or more to Chicago 2016, as did White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, an Obama family friend, who also served on the Chicago committee. It still counts Obama confidant and vacation companion Eric Whitaker among its members. Jarrett was replaced as vice chair by Martin Nesbitt, the treasurer of Obama’s campaign and another Obama family insider.
ASK Public Strategies, the Chicago-based corporate public relations company founded by Obama political guru David Axelrod and owned and run by some of Obama’s top presidential campaign consultants, was paid “in the tens of thousands” of dollars by Chicago 2016 to do “communication management [and] communication planning,” said former Axelrod partner Eric Sedler, who did not work for the Obama campaign but is in Copenhagen, along with Pritzker and Jarrett.
“ASK has worked on the bid for three years and for two thirds of that time our work has been pro bono,” said Sedler, who would not speculate on whether the company would be in line for more Olympic work if the IOC picks Chicago.
Zero. Epic fail.
I think the setup is coming....
Healthcare
Me thinks the Media is slowly starting to turn on Obama as they now see what a Huckster the man really is.
not you, Brandonmark, but the article author.
The new CBS logo?
His biggest problem is that he is a narcissist... Everything is always about him....
ME.ME.ME.
I.I.I.
No one wants to hear it any more.
He is an empty suit, a flatulent windbag, and completely out of his league.
When MSNBC starts dumping on you, you know you are in big trouble:)
Of Note... Obama’s personal involvement in pushing an American bid is unprecedented for a U.S. president. In addition to being the first president to personally lobby the IOC, Obama established the first-ever White House Olympics office (tapping Jarrett to head it) and recorded several videos seeking support from IOC sub-committees.
Until joining the Obama administration, Jarrett was both vice chair of Chicago 2016, the $49 million nonprofit enterprise created in 2006 to lead the city’s bid, and CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate company that is among the bidders to build the 3,500-unit Olympic Village.
Though she sold most of her holdings in Habitat real estate, White House spokesman LaBolt said Jarrett “was unable to sell” one real estate holding and a self-insurance interest.
“The holdings have nothing to do with the Olympic bid,” said LaBolt, adding that ethics officials “determined these presented no conflict in performing her duties as a White House advisor.”
But in order to clear Jarrett to head the Olympic office in spite of her unpaid work for Chicago 2016, the White House ethics lawyer granted her a waiver from Obama’s ethics policy barring officials from working on issues affecting previous employers – something Olympic detractors point to as evidence of the threat of Chicago-style pinstripe patronage if the city wins the games.
I am beginning to think that Obama was the reason that Chicago didn’t get the nod. If he left well enough alone, they would be coming up with a mascot as we speak. So, do we get our money back from all the FEDERAL money that was spent on a campaign for a city?
anybody want to investigate Jarrett’s ethics and what she has been working on in the Whitehouse?
If anybody can recognize the second coming of Hitler, it would be the Europeans.
I will NEVER go to Chicago ever again until the all the vestiges of corruption and evil are rooted out along with the corruption and evil that infests the White House!
>> Me thinks the Media is slowly starting to turn on Obama as they now see what a Huckster the man really is.
You can only cover for an obviously incompetent fool for so long. Sooner or later, you come to realize that your cover isn’t working, everyone’s getting wise, and they’re placing YOU in the same “incompetent fool” category.
You have to pull the plug on the cover job to keep from going down with the idiot.
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