Chicago's 2016 Olympic Bid: Has the City Become the Most Powerful in the World?

Those who've visited Chicago, Illinois and hated the winds, the winter weather and the acrid personalities of (some) of the populace who live there may have to get used to Chicago being designated as being more than just a tough city. While maybe the International Olympic Committee won't be swayed or get glittery stars in their eyes by President Obama's push for Chicago to get the 2016 Summer Olympics, it certainly has as good a chance as any of the other international cities when the feelings of mind-boggling power are starting to resonate from the Windy City. Just when I thought many of America's most powerful had been hailing from Texas, Chicago goes and becomes the second eeriest U.S. city in breeding individuals of powerful influence, both benevolently and malevolently.

And since Texas breeds mostly great musicians, the fact that Chicago has their breed bringing a much wider influence makes the equation with the Olympics all the more interesting.

Whether the IOC takes that into consideration will remain to be seen until this coming October when they choose the most logical city in the world to host the Summer Olympics. You never know exactly what the IOC is going to go for, though they sometimes cater to the least ostentatious cities, yet still prosperous and scenic. If Chicago is anything, it's bold and not afraid to rub it in your face that it's not only the land of Oprah, but also our nation's first black President. That rubbing in all started first with Oprah Winfrey when she cajoled the IOC not long ago to consider her city for 2016. This was in the pre-Gov. Blagojevich universe.

If it wasn't for Barack Obama becoming President, the chances of Chicago getting the Olympics could have been snuffed out with the controversies of Blago early this year. Oprah may be influential in moving mountains (and the only person on planet earth who could probably get Dr. Oz's mug carved into a mountain), yet can't sell her own city when it gets mired in slimy politics. Since Chicago has bathed in such things for decades, the ultimate decision with the IOC might have to come down to ignoring politics for the sake of goodwill. That won't be easy to do when Obama is a giant who seemed to temporarily sweep away the dirty style of how things get done politically in the city.

All other cities chosen in Olympic history never had a political specter hovering over it in whether it would be picked. The only exception might be the Berlin Summer Games in 1936 where the IOC held a suspicious eye over Hitler and his Third Reich. Obviously, had the IOC been aware of their nefarious plans within a few years, the Olympics would have never been held there. Ever since then, most of the cities we've seen for all Olympics of the last 60 years have been in very peaceful places that sometimes were, on rare occasion, unknown to the masses (e.g. Lillehammer, Norway).

If there's any comparison with Chicago, then perhaps the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles could have a connective string as a city that's powerful and with plenty of lobbying by notable people.
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Despite the Reagan family not playing it up today, it's still logical to say that Ronald Reagan was a longtime product of Los Angeles before becoming Governor of California and then President. He was just as instrumental in getting the Summer Games to L.A. as any other celebrity or celebrity athlete. Considering his popularity then and no political scandals coming out of L.A. at the time, you could easily say that Los Angeles was a pick based on power and the persuasive lobbying of those in that state of power. Los Angeles was arguably the most powerful city in America if not the world during that time period. Other than New York City (where an Olympics will likely be held someday), it was mightily hard to think that Salt Lake City or Atlanta would eventually host an Olympics.

They fell under the banner of more warmly inviting cities, outside of the unexpected terrorism in the 1996 Atlanta Games. With Salt Lake City, the IOC sent the message that going for smaller and cleaner could always be in the cards as representing the Olympic ideal. It's why I wrote an article here last year about the chances of Eugene, Oregon getting the Olympics either in 2016 or 2020. However, with Chicago a front-runner now, that won't happen. The prospects of an Olympics even being in America that soon is also hard to imagine, unless the power of Obama makes it already a done deal.

Yes, President Obama could sell us all a lifetime supply of dung at this point and make it look appealing after partially convincing the American populace his budget plan is exemplary. His power combined with Oprah's (and fellow Chicagoans Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan) could probably create some kind of chemical reaction equaling something close to the power of the sun at this point. Considering that every person in the world with access to media likely knows who Barack Obama, Oprah, Phelps and Jordan are, it makes the power of Chicago a bit intimidating, even against the competing Olympic cities of Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo combined.

Ultimately, it makes Chicago too powerful for its own good. The IOC really has a difficult decision here outside of it looking like an easy choice. If Chicago gets chosen, people will say it was the influence of Obama--hence bringing politics into the decision-making process for the first time. On the other hand, the Olympics are a business that requires recognition in order to survive. Having the most recognized and famous person in the world at the head of getting an Olympic Games in Chicago makes sense in symbolism along with ticket sales. Also, should Obama have a second term, he'd be at the tail end of it if the Olympics are held in Chicago.

The chances of seeing Obama, Oprah (probably retired from TV by then), Michael Phelps (hopefully with more gold medals and not in jail on a reefer charge) and Michael Jordan (hopefully still remembered as the greatest basketball player ever) at the opening ceremony would be too great to pass up for every citizen on the planet.

Once those international visitors feel the earlier-mentioned Chicago winds, the heat and the gruff personalities of the city's population that summer, they'll also understand that the most powerful city in the world isn't necessarily utopia...

Source:

http://www.chicago2016.org/