Obama Lobbies Hard For Chicago To Host 2016 Olympics

For an administration that righteously announced early on that it would keep its distance from lobbying, there certainly was a lot of it at the White House as President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle joined Chicago Mayor Richard Daley at a South Lawn event to lobby the International Olympic Committee to select the first family's hometown as the 2016 summer games venue.

President Barack Obama said he would be going to Copenhagen himself to lobby for Chicago's bid if he weren't so busy trying to overhaul one-seventh of the U.S. economy.

OBAMA: I would make the case in Copenhagen personally, if I weren't so firmly committed to making — making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for every American. But the good news is I'm sending a more compelling superstar to represent the city and country we love, and that is our First Lady, Michelle Obama. (Applause.) She's going because she and I share the conviction that bringing the Games to the United States isn't just important for the city, but for the American people.

 

He also waxed lyrical about his adopted city:

OBAMA: It's a city of broad shoulders and big hearts and bold dreams; a city of legendary sports figures, legendary sports venues, and legendary sports fans; a city like America itself, where the world — the world's races and religions and nationalities come together and reach for the dream that brought them here.

In Chicago, old and new exist in harmony. It's a city rooted in an industrial past that laid this nation's railroads, forged this nation's steel, rebuilt itself after a great fire, and reversed the course of a mighty river.

And in case there were any doubts about the White House's commitment to the Olympic movement, Obama tried to put that to rest:

OBAMA: And so the United States of America does more than just stand behind the Olympic and Paralympic Games — we stand behind their ideals.

And that's why we've created the first ever Office of Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Sport right here in the White House. (Applause.) Now, this office does the work of coordinating with federal agencies to support and promote Olympic and Paralympic Games, but it also works to support and promote the Olympic spirit. We've been working hand in hand with Chicago 2016, the United States Olympic Committee, Olympians and Paralympians — some of whom have joined us here today — to get our young Americans active and involved in sports, because we want to do more than just bring the Olympic Games to America — we want them to create a lasting legacy here in America.

In closing his pitch, the president laid it on thick.

Obama: Americans, like Chicagoans — we don't like to make small plans. We want to dream big and reach high. We hope deeply. We want these Games. And if you choose Chicago, I promise you this: Chicago will make America proud, and America will make the world proud.

Obama showed himself to be a first-class lobbyist, the lobbyist in chief, in fact. The lobbyists on K St, Washington's lobby alley, couldn't have delivered the message any better.