Thursday, September 10, 2009

Will He Stay or Will He Go?

Will President Obama stay (in the US) or will he go (to Copenhagen) is the big Olympic question today. The rumor floating around on the interwebs this afternoon/evening was that he was probably not going, but that might have just been the politically correct statement at the time by Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Not much new news to this story, but this is probably the biggest question and story leading into the October 2nd vote. As we (and many others) have said, if he goes...Chicago looks good...if he doesn't it's doutbful.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I were Obama, I'd keep my distance from Emperor Daley and this whole Olympic fiasco.

Anonymous said...

I have a really hard time believing that his presence in Copenhagen would be the decisive factor you're suggesting it could be

Sloopy said...

You might be right anon, however that's my take on it. From people I've talked to and what I've read it seems like it's a pretty big deal. If you look at the last two olympic bidding contests, they heads of state (blair and putin) both were said to have a major impact on the voting.

Although it seems silly, I really think Obama being there could get Chicago a couple extra votes and that might make a difference.

I hope it doesn't because that seems pretty silly. Regardless, we will never know eitherway...just a topic to discuss i guess

Chitownmez said...

Can we please talk about the absurd stupid announcements on the CTA buses now? I'm sorry Nadia Comaneci, I don't care that you want the Olympics here. You're not even a Chicagoan!

Sloopy said...

Is it an ad or an actual audio announcement on the buses? That's pretty crazy...

Brad said...

The Olympics would be great for the city. The exposure would bring in tourists from around the world for years. Tourists spend money and money creates jobs. Don't be short-sighted.

Anonymous said...

Intrade futures markets moved down 5 points on this news. It now puts the probability of Chicago at .5 and the probability of Rio at .4.

Anonymous said...

Chicago does not need more exposure and/or tourist dollars . . . this city can't exercise any fiscal horse-sense as it is.

Just look at the cost overruns on the Millenium Park project: 4x-5x the original budget. What makes you think the 2016 sinkhole would be any different?

City infrastructure needs improvements either way, I wish Richie would put a fraction of his Olympic bid energy towards real life issues NOW.

resident said...

Actually, Nadia Comaneci and her husband Bart Conner do live in Chicago.