Can Obama make Chicago’s Olympics bid a winning one?
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Will Barack Obama make a difference in Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics? Philip Hersh, who covers Olympic sports for us and the Chicago Tribune, weighs in. The bottom line? The senator from Illinois, who in January takes office as the 44th president of the United States, could make all the difference. Hersh writes:
I can see it now. It is Oct. 2, 2009, in Copenhagen. Chicago is making its final presentation before the International Olympic Committee chooses the host of the 2016 Summer Games. A video rolls showing a crowd of some 200,000 -- young and old, black, white, brown and yellow, gay and straight, men and women -- happily gathered in what is called the city’s front yard, Grant Park. Now the video shows the man they have come to see as he emerges from backstage and he walks out to greet the crowd. And then, in Copenhagen, President Barack Obama, in person, walks out from backstage to join the Chicago 2016 presentation team. Think that won’t have a stunning impact?
-- Debbie Goffa