Obama Will Lose Games Staying Home

CHICAGO -- He has voiced so many opinions about sports, I've urged ESPN to give him a talk show an on-air nickname: Barack The Rock. A week doesn't pass, it seems, without another sports team dropping by his house, as if he's operating a fantasy camp on the South Lawn. He is the sporting president, this Barack Obama, and for all the frivolity involved so far, I assumed the one serious matter he'd embrace would be pushing through Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

That would require being in Copenhagen for a couple of days at the beginning of October. Now, how hard would that be? Jump on Air Force One, dine on lobster, drink wine, arrive in Denmark and spend 36 hours pumping the hands of International Olympic Committee voters who surely would be excited to meet America's rock-star politician. Certainly, there is recent precedent for famous world leaders ramming home Olympic bids at the IOC meetings. Tony Blair, then the British prime minister, was on the schmooze when London won the 2012 Games, edging Paris by four votes. And Vladimir Putin, then the Russian president, was on site and influential in landing the 2014 Winter Olympics for the resort town of Sochi.

You say Rio de Janeiro is the prime competition, between topless beaches and the fact South America never has hosted the Games? It doesn't help Chicago when Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will be in the house. Same goes for King Juan Carlos of Spain, on behalf of Madrid's bid. When the IOC's 100-plus members aren't having their hands greased with favors, they do love feeling very important. The presence of royalty and heads of state justifies their pomposity, at least in their minds. And when you consider what IOC president Jacques Rogge said about how tight the competition is, then, yes, Obama should be there.

"I think I can make a bet today and say that it's probably going to be a couple of votes, two, three, four," Rogge said this week. "Something like four, five votes is only the situation of a change of mind of two or three persons. You see how close it is. You can convince two people more and you can win."

But even though Obama is charming enough to do just that, and even though Chicago is his hometown and the site of his stirring speech on Election Night, he won't be making it to wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen. His explanation: He needs to remain home and carry on his mission for health-care reform, though, for the life of me, I don't know why two days in Europe would be a detriment in his quest. "I would make the case in Copenhagen personally, if I weren't so firmly committed to making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for every American,'' he said.

I think he should go anyway and bring his homework with him.

Because by not being there, Obama stands to lose the Games for Chicago and America.

I think it's pretty important for the President to go to Copenhagen for the vote. If he doesn't, you're not maximizing the chances of winning,'' said IOC delegate Richard Pound of Canada, who has a vote and said competitors will use Obama's absence against the U.S. "I don't think there's an IOC member on the planet that wouldn't love to meet your president. He's a transformational figure in the world today. If he can be persuaded to go, I think it makes a huge difference."

The thought was echoed by Chicago Mayor Richrd Daley, who probably wouldn't mind having a convenient source to blame if the Olympics go the way of the Cubs. "You can bring your Olympics ... (only) so far. Your prime minister or your president has to then carry the football,'' he said. "That would hurt us ... in the eyes of the International Olympic Committee."

Is it possible Obama is running away from defeat, not wanting it on his record if he travels abroad and loses to Rio, Madrid or Tokyo? It's peculiar for crunch time to arrive and the president to fade away, pretending that the presence of the first lady, Michelle, will have the same impact among voters. "I'm sending a more compelling superstar to represent the city and country we love,'' he said. By doing so, Obama sends a message to the IOC that he doesn't believe the Olympics are important enough to slip away for a few hours. This by no means is understating the importance of health-care reform, recalling how I once was severely misdiagnosed in a hospital. But I don't think those two days are make or break for insurance.

They are make or break for the Olympics, regardless of how Rogge tries to soft-pedal Obama's absence. "The IOC is very honored by the presence of dignitaries, heads of state, heads of government. "It is also reassurance that public authorities are behind the bid and will be supportive. However, this is absolutely not a requirement of the IOC," he said. "If they come, we're glad they come, we're honored, but we don't want them to come at all (costs)."

That is only one man's opinion. It's possible Rogge, like many who meet Obama, was warmed by a personal phone call from the president this week. "President Obama expressed in a very clear way his very strong support for Chicago, and you know how charismatic he is when he wants to express the love for his city," Rogge said glowingly. "He was very clear to say he's totally behind the bid and will remain behind the organization should Chicago get the Games. But he explained to me that the current political situation in Washington did not allow him to participate in the bid in Copenhagen. He said with a sense of humor that he would send the best part of his couple, and that the first lady would probably be the best stand-in that he could have imagined for himself."


The other possibility is that Obama thinks he already has won, that Chicago is in the bag. How wrong he would be. While one problem was resolved when Daley signed the IOC's host-city contract, assuring that his city will assume full responsibllity for overspending, another popped up as a result. For years, Chicagoans have been promised they won't have to pay for the Games. Suddenly, that has changed, prompting a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll that revealed considerable opposition among city residents -- 45 percent supporting the Olympics, 47 opposing them and 84 percent saying no to using public money. "We want to make sure it's awarded to a city that not only has a very good bid file, but also big support of the local population," Rogge said.

Gulp.

Then there's transportation. For all the romanticism attached to the city's "El" trains, they're largely rickety and archaic compared to the sleek train systems on other continents. I won't soon forget Daley, deep inside Beijing's supersonic subway system, unable to figure out how to buy an electronic ticket. "I think the majority of members will vote on the fundamentals," Rogge said. "Is it a good organization, do we trust the people, are the venues OK, is the transportation OK?"

Despite the raging doubts, Obama is staying put. His solution was to hold a rally at the White House the other day, inviting Daley and his aides, Olympians, Paralympians and schoolchildren to celebrate whatever there is to celebrate. "Chicago is ready," Obama said. "The American people are ready. We want these Games. I promise you, we are fired up about this." Then he proceeded to try an Olympic sport in his backyard.

"You should have seen the president in there fencing," the first lady said. "It was pathetic."

I can think of another word for Obama's decision to stay home: lame. "This is a United States application for Chicago. This is not Chicago's application for the United States," Daley lamented. "It's Japan's application for Tokyo. It's Brazil's application for Rio de Janeiro. And it's Spain's application for Madrid. So, it's really a country competing. The mayor of Chicago cannot compete against those other countries. There's presidents or prime ministers or even the king and queen of Spain. So, it's very challenging."

Even if Obama flew in for a few hours for the final speeches, he could make a staggering impact. "The last presentations could sway the decisions of one or two members," Rogge said.

But without the president, Chicago should brace itself for an "L," like the one that hangs on the Wrigley Field flagpole. So much for the sporting president making a difference.