After Hillary Clinton challenged President Bush to skip the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in Beijing this summer, a move Bush reportedly is considering, reporters asked Barack Obama whether he agreed to the mini-boycott.  He never really answered the question, using it as an opportunity to call China America’s “banker” and to complain about the status of trade with China instead.  ABC News says Obama has good reason to change the subject, but does this really matter?:

Barack Obama doesn’t seem to want to talk about the Olympics or Senator Clinton’s call for a boycott of the opening ceremonies on August 8, 2008. …

The junior Senator from Illinois has a particularly tricky balancing act when it comes to the subject of the Olympics: Chicago is vying to host the 2016 games and one of Obama’s top campaign advisors and close friends, Valerie Jarrett, is the vice chair of Chicago’s bid committee.

So what does this mean?  Not much.  It isn’t as if Obama has covered up some horrid connection to an indicted political fixer or counts former domestic terrorists among his early political supporters.  He has an adviser who also acts as a high-ranking member of a — gasp — Olympic Bid committee!

The most that can be said for this is that Obama will kowtow to a special interest, at least in silence.  He’s willing to criticize China for its human rights abuses and support for Sudan, but won’t target the Olympics out of deference to his friend.  While one could fashion an argument out of that, it’s pretty thin gruel, and Obama has plenty of other vulnerabilities in this election without pulling a muscle on this effort.  (via Memeorandum)