Objectively, I think the Obamas did a poor job selling the IOC on what Chicago could do for them. It also seemed to me that Obama was lecturing the IOC a little bit, and that is one group that does not take kindly to being lectured.

To borrow a phrase from Jim Rome of all people, just look at the scoreboard. Before the Obamas' presentation, conventional wisdom was that Chicago would be 1 or 2. After their pitch Chicaco came in fourth. There are two explanations for this. Either the Obamas actually hurt, or it was a lost cause and there is nothing they could have done. I personally think their speeches were a lost opportunity and were not that effective. If it was a lost cause from the get-go, I wonder why they were over there in the first place, exposing themselves and the country to a humiliation, which is what happened. Either way I think it was a misjudgment by Team Obama.

I'm happy for Rio. Their timezone is close to the US's so we'll get to see a lot of stuff live. The basketball will probably be amazing. I was at a party yesterday with a bunch of Brazilians and while happy they are skeptical that all the construction can get done in time!

Correlation does not equal causation.

One of the NPR shows did a lot of coverage of the site selection process, and one of the interviewees was talking about how Chicago was a favorite of the newer IOC members, while Rio was a favorite of the older IOC members.

I'm not an Obama fan overall, but I don't think you can blame him for this. I think that a much more likely explanation is that the IOC just wanted to hold the Olympics in a brand new venue. The US has had the Summer games twice in the past 20 years, and 3 times in the past 25. It just wasn't Chicago's time.

I really don't understand why people are huffing and puffing and feigning humiliation. Really? Get over it. The Olympics are supposed to be about cooperation, friendship, fostering understanding, and unity through friendly competition. People who are using the Olympic selection as a chance to blame Obama for something, anything, through really faulty logic, just come across as out of touch with reality and bitter. Be happy for the winner and stop acting like a sore loser.

Heck, I live in Chicago, and I'm not embarrassed at all. Seriously. We put in a good bid, got turned down, we move on. I don't get why Daley was quoted as saying "There's always 2020" because I don't see a point in putting in another bid, but oh well.

Besides, I'm excited that I'll still be able to get to work during that two weeks, and our guest bedroom won't be filled with my (or live-in's) crazy relatives.

To say that the country was "humiliated" is a stretch. Seriously. We've been turned down for the Olympics before.

GET OVER IT.

There is no "feigning" humiliation. Obama himself interjected the office of the Presidenf of the United States into the process. Obama is the one who totally misread the room in Copenhagen. Second would not have been so bad, but fourth? To get 18 votes out of 95? In what reality is that not an embarrassment?

If internet posters are smart enough to see that it just wasn't Chicago's "time", why didn't supposedly one of the smartest people ever to be President realize the same thing?

Look, I know not getting the Olympics isn't the end of the world. I am not a sore loser. I don't want the Olympics here. The Olympics are a corrupt organization that too often cow-tows to regimes of very questionable character (see 1936, 1980, 2008, 2014) and too often shows itself to be morally bankrupt (see 1972 and the entire Avery Brundage experience).

What I see with resect to the Chicago non-selection is that some people are having a hard time admitting that the President made a big blunder on a big stage. Not seeing that is, to me, coming across as not being in touch with reality. Maybe the reality is that his judgment isn't as great as he would have us believe.

I actually agree with Midway, to a point. Most of our recent Presidents have been rather embarrassing. There was no reason at all Obama should have even voiced his opinion to any one in the U.S., let alone the IOC.

I can see why Obama would want Chicago to win it, but I don't think he should have gone to address the IOC. I honestly think that the president should have nothing to do with this. I just don't know, but does the federal government pay for anything for the Olympics? If not then it should be the Mayor of the city or the Governor of the state who should be speaking. It is the people of their community that has to pay out for this, not the United States as a whole.

I really am not one to defend everything Obama does, so spare me the lecture. And yes, I still think you need to get over it.

P.S. It's kowtow.

For anyone who thinks Obama's presence made the US look silly, you might want to consider the fact that Japan's Prime Minister, Brazil's President, and Spain's President were all in Copenhagen and they all made presentations.

So, actually, the US would have looked silly if Obama *hadn't* been there. He would have been the only leading governmental figure of the four countries in the final vote to be absent.

Seriously. Let's try to look at this with a little perspective.

According to CBS, Obama was there to give a presentation but he left before they voted. CBS also implied that Chicago might have not been ousted in the first round had Obama actually stayed a few hours more. But of course that is speculation, and doesn't really matter in the long run.

^^Sorry, I didn't mean to imply he was there for the vote. I just meant that he would have been the only one not to make a presentation in advance of the final vote, of the 4 countries who were up for the final vote.

ahhh gotcha

Looks like heads will indeed roll after Chicago's failed bid:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=4539035

they brought dishonor to the great leader :(

While I didn't have any real dog in this fight, I understand that many of Chicago's local colleges and universities stood to get make some serious cash for letting the Olympians reside in the dorms. I do feel badly that they lose out.