President Obama's decision to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, to boost Chicago's chances of winning the 2016 Olympics has drawn criticism from some Republicans, who call it a boondoggle for Obama's hometown allies and evidence the president has blurred his priorities.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele denounced the visit during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Calling it "noble for the president to pitch his home city, Chi-town," before the International Olympic Committee Friday, Steele said it would be a distraction from more pressing issues such as healthcare, job creation, and other urgent demands on Obama's time.
However, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential contender, said Obama is right to make an appearance.
"In the current environment, the presence of a head of state is important to get the Games," said Romney, who headed the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair set a new standard by lobbying personally for his country's successful 2012 Olympic bid, Romney said.
But Steele said the lobbying trip raises questions about Obama's priorities.
"Where is the focus?" Steele said. "At a time of war, at a time of recession . . . I think this trip is nice but not necessary for the president. The goal should be creating job opportunities not seven years from now, but job opportunities today."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs laughed when told of Steele's criticism of Obama's trip.
"Who's he rooting for?" Gibbs said. "Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio? I don't know. Maybe it's Madrid."
Steele's comments echoed those of Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking GOP member of the House Intelligence Committee, who told reporters Obama should focus on the escalating conflict in Afghanistan.
Just last week, Obama said he wouldn't make the trip to Copenhagen, citing his need to press for healthcare reform legislation instead. White House officials mentioned the economic benefits the United States would receive from a winning Olympics bid in explaining the president's sudden change of heart.
First Lady Michelle Obama originally was slated to represent Chicago before the IOC but now will share the duties with her husband.
The city's bid is competing with bids from Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Spain, and Tokyo, and the heads of state from Brazil, Spain, and Japan are appearing in person to make their countries' pitch.
Indeed, Curt Hamakawa, director of the Center for International Sport Business at Western New England College in Massachusetts, said Chicago probably would lose the bid if Obama had chosen not to go.
"For the president not to attend would send a signal, and it would not be helpful to Chicago's bid. Almost certainly it would result in Chicago not having a chance," Hamakawa said, adding that, if Obama stays home and Chicago isn't selected, "Republicans would have been crabbing that he didn't do enough."
GOP strategist John Feehery said it is important for Republicans to pick their battles in deciding how and when to criticize Obama.
But Feehery, a Chicago native who said he is rooting for the city to win the Games, said GOP complaints about Obama's trip are well-founded.
"He's taking a bunch of Chicago cronies on an all-expense paid trip to Copenhagen for just one reason: to get the Olympics," Feehery said. "For me it makes him seem unserious and look slightly desperate."
Grumbling about Obama's trip began to bubble up on conservative blogs and Web sites soon after the White House announced Obama's trip Monday.
"It's not like the president doesn't have anything to do, nothing important on his plate at the moment, right?" the blog Rightwing Nuthouse.com asked, while the conservative Drudge Report posted a television news story about a Chicago teen beaten and murdered in gang warfare there last week.
"Olympic Spirit," the Drudge Report declared in a headline.
© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
