Nov 6, 2008 5:52 am US/Central
Obama's Victory May Help Chicago Grab The Gold
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Obama wasn't the only big winner last night. His victory lifts Chicago closer to Olympic gold.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports on how our chances at 2016 have changed.
Chicago is competing with Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Games. All the Olympic news Web sites have their power ratings, and Chicago has always been at or near the top among 2016 candidates. But the outcome of the election, most believe, makes Chicago the clear favorite. As the head of Tokyo's bid said on Wednesday, Barack Obama "could be a problem for Japan."
Chicago's tribute to its favorite son president-elect was promotion for its 2016 bid money can't buy; but it was more than just the beauty of our skyline. It was the depth of emotion of the people.
"They saw people crying, people laughing with incredible joy in their faces, and that's what Chicago symbolizes," said Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd). "I think it was an incredible boost for us receiving the Olympics."
For Obama himself, support for Chicago 2016 is undeniable, having interrupted his campaign back in June to make an appearance at an Olympic rally in Daley Plaza alongside Mayor Richard M. Daley.
"In 2016, I'll be wrapping up my second term as president, so I can't think of a better way than to be marching into Washington Park alongside Mayor Daley, alongside Rahm Emanuel, alongside Dick Durbin, alongside Valerie Jarrett as President of the United States, and annoucing to the world, 'Let the games begin!'" Obama said at the June rally.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 2016 CEO Pat Ryan called the election of Obama, "Well, it has to be a 10," Ryan said.
"Barack Obama is highly esteemed around the world, and seen as a unifying figure, and frankly, also seen as a sportsman," Ryan added,
Mayor Daley also said the election of Obama was sure to be a boon.
"It helps us tremendously, but you can't take it for granted," Mayor Daley said.
At City Hall Wednesday, the mayor likened the president-elect's role to a good football team with a star running back.
"You can bring it so far, your prime minister, your president then has to carry the football," Daley said.
Veteran Olympic observers say Obama may well be the difference-maker.
"The celebrity that will accompany him when he goes to Europe next October assuming he does that will be hard for the IOC to ignore and I think that they will gravitate to him like they did to Tony Blair when London was bidding for the 2012 Olympics," said Ed Hula of the Web site AroundTheRings.com.
And it's not just because of his rock star status.
"We're dealing with a multicultural world and we have the greatest representation of multiculturalism that we could possibly have," Ryan said. "We saw it last night, it was so emotionally uplifting."
"I'll give Chicago an edge right now because of Obama, but we still have 10 more to go," Hula said. "The world is a constantly changing place and things can happen."
And could change how he's viewed when, as expected, he leads Chicago's team to Copenhagen for the final vote next October.
But make no mistake - with the biggest obstacle for Chicago being America's image around the world, for 2016, the election of Barack Obama is as good as it gets.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine and Joanie Lum contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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