Allahpundit already posted about this, but it’s still a worthwhile addition to the OOTD library because of its many levels of bad choice.  Barack Obama has decided to put his international influence on the line not to push for more support in Afghanistan or sanctions on Iran, but to act as Salesman in Chief for Chicago and its Olympics big for 2016.  Politico’s Eamon Javers and Nia-Malika Henderson can’t quite comprehend the politics of it:

But now that he’s traveling to Copenhagen personally to make the pitch Friday, some experts say he better not come home empty-handed.

The White House knows that the decision to go before the International Olympic Committee is fraught with political risk: The president could be embarrassed on a world stage if he doesn’t land the games.

Plus, more than a few Americans are surely scratching their heads — with his inbox crowded with a troop request for Afghanistan, a new secret nuclear site in Iran, sky-high unemployment and a health care bill in Congress, does the president really have time for this?

Supposedly, the White House was worried about how Obama would look if he didn’t personally appear in Copenhagen to press the IOC.  Well, he would have looked like … a President with bigger problems on his plate than which city would lose tons of money this time in hosting an overblown sporting event.  Obama isn’t the President of Chicago, after all; he’s the leader of the free world, with a big decision pending on a war he’s presently supposed to be fighting.

So what are the potential outcomes?

1. The IOC awards the games to Chicago, which makes it look as though Obama got tipped off and set up his trip as a political stunt.
2. The IOC awards the games to another city, and Obama looks like a fool.
3. In either case, everyone wonders why Obama got personally involved at all.

There is a reason why heads of state usually remain above this kind of issue, which is that they’re supposed to be above it.  Obama still hasn’t learned from the Gates arrest that presidents don’t need to get involved in municipal affairs.  (graphic by Paul C)

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