Uh oh, No O.

(LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND)  President Barack Obama has been more than generous with his time when it comes to supporting Chicago's Olympic bid.  During the final months of the campaign he joined a rally at Daley Plaza.  The President has mentioned the bid in speeches and recorded several video messages played to influential members of the Olympic movement.

But here in Lausanne, the task of underscoring federal support for Chicago's bid fell to White House Senior Advisor (and former Chicago 2016 board member) Valerie Jarrett. She spoke via videotape to the IOC.

President Lula of Brazil recorded a message for the IOC as did Madrid's President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.  When asked why there was no Obama message, Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan said Chicago chose to follow the rules of the presentation set forth by the IOC.  They stipulate no celebrities or political leaders need attend.

Comments

[Eddie]

As a teenager, I visited Lausanne in 1999. I found Vaud to be one of the nicest cantons in Switzerland. All the same, I love my hometown and think Chicago deserves to get the Olympic Games in 2016. It'd be nice to return to Lausanne and see our city's name added to the annals and exhibits at the Olympic Museum.

I live in the UK now, and the preparation going into the 2012 games is developing a rough and forgotten side of London. I'm a native South Sider, who knows what the games would do for Bronzeville and the surrounding areas west of Washington Park. I only wish I wasn't a poor graduate student, or else I'd buy real estate in the area before the October announcement is made by the IOC.

In my opinion, the other cities don't really have a chance. A few years ago, I lived in Brazil. From that experience, I know that Chicago's crime seems non-existent when compared to the dangers of Rio de Janeiro. Of course, London 2012 makes Madrid 2016 less likely, since the committee would be less likely to have consecutive summer games in the same continent. Thus, Tokyo may have a few difficulties given the recent whirlwind of Beijing. The global Obama love-fest makes Chicago 2016 the perfect venue for the president to end his second term.

Chicago 2016!

Tokyo or Rio in 2020!