Chicago Tossed in 1st Round of IOC Vote

Chicago Tossed in 1st Round of IOC Vote
Once Considered Favorite, Chicago Eliminated From Contention To Host 2016 Olympics; Rio de Janeiro, Madrid Still Alive
Rush Limbaugh on Olympic Loss, David Brooks on Rush
Today, ABC’s Steven Portnoy blogged about Rush Limbaugh’s reaction to the Rio Olympic win. Portnoy writes: Rush Limbaugh acknowledged his glee in telling his talk radio audience Friday that the International Olympic Committee's rejection of Chicago's bid for the 2016...
Obama: Olympics lost, joblessness up

by Mark Silva

President Barack Obama returned to the White House today without the 2016 summer Olympic gamesthe International Olympic Committee has granted them to Rio de Janeiroand to face the highest level of unemployment at home since 1983: 9.8 percent.

But the president shied away from neither fact today, keeping an appointment for a Rose Garden appearance at the White House upon his return from Copenhagen. He brought First Lady Michelle Obama, who had travelled ahead to lobby the IOC, home with him. The White House said the president had watched the breaking news of the IOC's decision alone in a front cabin of Air Force One.

"One of the things that is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win,'' the president said in the Rose Garden.

"I have no doubt that it was the strongest bid possible, '' the president said of his adopted home-town's failed bid for the '16 games, "and I was proud that I was able to come in and make that case in person....

"We obviously would have been eager to host these games,'' Obama said, thanking all who worked on Chicago's bid and saying, "We once again want to just say how much we are committed to the Olympic spirit, which I think represents some of the best of humanity.''

The Republican National Committee chairman, who had accused the president of pursuing the "wrong priorities'' in going to Copenhagen, said after today's IOC vote that Obama can "refocus'' now on unemployment and other problems. But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had this to say about RNC Chairman Michael Steele's critique:

"I want to know what was Michael Steele doing about 1:50 a.m. when we landed -- 1:50 a.m. in the morning when we landed in Denmark.''

Home at the White House, the president swiftly turned to the newest unemployment figures9.8 percent reported by the Department of Labor today for the month of September. The nation has lost more than 7 million jobs since the recession began, including more than 200,000 last month.

"My principal focus each and every day.... is putting our nation back on the path to prosperity,'' Obama said. "But today's jobs report is a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts, and we're going to need to grind out this recovery, step by step....

"I will not let up,'' he said. "Whenever I see statistics like the ones we saw today, my mind turns to the people behind them....

"Building a 21st Century economy... where skills can receive the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future, will not happen overnight... but we will build it,'' he said. "I will continue with that effort each and every day, for as long as I am in the White House.''

Obama is "disappointed,'' spokesman Robert Gibbs jhad said aboard Air Force One, returning to Andrews Air Force Base from Copenhagen this afternoon. But Obama does not regret putting so much personally on the line for Chicago's bid, he said.

The president's critics already were rubbing salt in the wound this afternoon. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who had accused Obama of pursuing the "wrong priorities'' in his personal push for the Olympics at a time of international crisis and a tumultuous health-care debate at home, suggested today that his point of view had been vindicated.

"While I am disappointed with the IOC's decision, I look forward to the president returning stateside so that he can refocus his efforts on the growing unemployment crisis that was highlighted by today's monthly jobs report,'' Steele said. "Our country needs the president's undivided attention on the urgent issues facing American families today: rising unemployment, soaring health care costs, winning the war in Afghanistan and dealing with Iran's nuclear threat."

"I want to know what was Michael Steele doing about 1:50 a.m. when we landed -- 1:50 a.m. in the morning when we landed in Denmark,'' Gibbs replied aboard the airplane ride home.

"They probably had a press release queued up that said, if Chicago didn't get the Olympics and the president didn't get to go,'' he said. "You know, there's people trying to solve problems and there's people playing games, and I think we know where a bunch of that is.''

Senator Eyes Health Co-Ops For All 50 States

Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota says health care cooperatives could win the political support that a public option for insurance couldn't. Conrad wants the federal government to help start nonprofit, member-run co-ops in all 50 states.