What exactly did he “put on the line” in order to go beg for the Olympics to be hosted in Chicago?
Was there any risk associated with this that was not inherent to normal presidential travel or advocacy?
Is there much more risk to “no” than we know?
Much of the presidency and politics are image. Call it what you want, political capital, cache, face, clout, etc. the big O invested heavily in the *hope* that his personal appearance would be enough for Chicago. Not only did it not put Chicago over the top, but Chicago was the first city rejected out of hand.
Because O chose to go there in person, it makes the rejection of the bid personal. Trust me, other world leaders have taken note.
...all the "insiders" who invested millions buying depressed land where the Olybamapics village were going to be built and then handed over to government financed apartment dwellers living there. Those people (Valarie Jarett etc)were going to make oddles
“What exactly did he “put on the line” in order to go beg for the Olympics to be hosted in Chicago?”
Picture this:
CHICAGO THUGS: Look man, we got you into the white house so now it’s payback time. You bring home the Olympics or yous is toast. You got that?
OBAMA: Yeah. I got it.