The Obamas Lay an Egg in Copenhagen

They forgot the importance of 'YOU'

This is not about whether the Obamas were smart or dumb to go to Copenhagen, Denmark, and pitch Chicago as the 2016 Olympic site.

No question, they should have gone, joining King Juan Carlos of Spain, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

President Obama was damned by the Republicans for going and mocked by the Republicans for not closing the deal. But he would have been more severely damned and mocked—and blamed—had he not gone and the U.S. lost out.

What’s more, the president was gone for one day, and he is a fair multitasker. Last I heard, Air Force One has a telephone and video conferencing systems onboard, so he didn't have to relinquish the presidency to Joe Biden while he was aloft. In addition, he tended to foreign policy by having a 15-minute meeting with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, chief U.S. honcho in the Afghanistan war.

The real embarrassment was Chicago being eliminated on the first ballot with a pathetic 18 votes out of 94.

What happened?

I got the clue the following Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

A Sunday Pundit Figured It Out.
Sunday mornings, I go around the dials to see what the talking heads are saying. Here’s the opening exchange between two Georges—Stephanopoulos and Will:

George Stephanopoulos: Was it the right thing to do to put the prestige of the White House on the line. The White House says hey, you never go wrong fighting for your country.

George Will: Well, they were fighting for a city and a city divided on whether or not this would be a good thing to have the Olympics there. What’s alarming is whether it indicates a belief on the part of the president, which is that there is no problem that will not melt before the sunshine of his charm. And this is evidence once again that this is not so.

The president and first lady went to Copenhagen and gave little speeches about themselves. She—Mrs. Obama—used the first person singular pronoun in some form or other, “I” or “me,” 34 times in 16 paragraphs.

He used it 23 times in 13 paragraphs. It was all about them and the danger is an adjective sooner or later attaches to presidents. “Honest Abe.” “Tricky Dick Nixon.” All kinds of adjectives. The danger to the president is that “vain” is going to attach to him.

Michelle Obama’s Lede:
President Rogge, ladies and gentlemen, Mesdames et Messieurs of the International Olympic Committee: I am honored to be here.

I was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, not far from where the Games would open and close. Ours was a neighborhood of working families—families with modest homes and strong values.

Sports were what brought our community together. They strengthen our ties to one another.

Growing up, when I played games with the kids in my neighborhood, we picked sides based not on who you were, but what you could bring to the game. Sports taught me self-confidence, teamwork, and how to compete as an equal.

Sports were a gift I shared with my dad—especially the Olympic Games.

Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis, and others for their brilliance and perfection. Like so many young people, I was inspired. I found myself dreaming that maybe, just maybe, if I worked hard enough, I, too, could achieve something great.

But I never dreamed that the Olympic flame might one day light up lives in my neighborhood.

President Obama’s lede dealt with Chicago and his father:

President Rogge, ladies and gentlemen of the International Olympic Committee:

I come here today as a passionate supporter of the Olympic and Paralympic Games; as a strong believer in the movement they represent; and as a proud Chicagoan. But above all, I come as a faithful representative of the American people, and we look forward to welcoming the world to the shores of Lake Michigan and the heartland of our nation in 2016.

To host athletes and visitors from every corner of the globe is a high honor and a great responsibility. And America is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust. We're a nation that has always opened its arms to the citizens of the world—including my own father from the African continent—people who have sought something better; who have dreamed of something bigger.

I know you face a difficult choice among several great cities and nations with impressive bids of their own. So I've come here today to urge you to choose Chicago for the same reason I chose Chicago nearly 25 years ago—the reason I fell in love with the city I still call home. And it's not just because it's where I met the woman you just heard from—although after getting to know her this week, I know you'll all agree that she's a pretty big selling point for the city.

You see, growing up, my family moved around a lot. I was born in Hawaii. I lived in Indonesia for a time. I never really had roots in any one place or culture or ethnic group. And then I came to Chicago.

These speeches should emphatically NOT have been about “I,” “me,” “we,” “us” and “our.”

The subject should have been YOU—you, the members of the International Olympic Committee, your athletes, your member nations, your comfort and your ability to compete at the highest level in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

“The prospect doesn’t give a damn about you, your company or your product,” Seattle guru Bob Hacker used to rant. “All that matters is, ‘What’s in it for me?'”

To make that easy to remember, “Always listen to W I I-FM.”

George Will's Woeful Undercount
I went over the two speeches and discovered that “I,” “me,” “we,” “us” and “our” were used 57 times by the first lady. She said “you” or “your” just eight times.

President Obama used “I,” “me,” “we,” “us” and “our” a mind-blowing 70 times vs. “you” and “your” a paltry 11 times.

Lula’s Stem-winder
I was unable to find a transcript of the winning speech by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an intense, bearded munchkin of a man, who has been described as “the most popular politician on the planet.” But I downloaded 10 stories from the world media and came up with a sense of what “Lula” accomplished.

“Lula's devoted effort and personal charm worked in the final presentation, observers here say,” wrote Glare on the Olympic Spirit blogspot. “Lula made a hearted and passionate speech in very short sentences, taking the breath away of his audience.”

Where the Obamas orated and talked about themselves, Lula was emotional, low-key and spoke directly from the heart in a very personal way to the Olympic representatives. He alternately created a vision of hope and human striving for excellence as well as laying a guilt trip on the IOC for never having awarded the games to a South American country. As Paul Radford and Stuart Grudgings of Reuters dispatched from Copenhagen:

"It is time to address this imbalance," he urged. "I honestly believe it is Brazil's time. Among the countries that today compete to host the Games, we are the only one that has never had this honor."

"For others it will be just one more Games," he noted. "For us, it will be an unparallel opportunity."

"It will boost the self-esteem of Brazilians," "consolidate recent achievements" and "inspire new ones."

He said the bid was not only Brazil's, but also South America's, "bid of a continent with almost 400 million men and women and around 180 million youngsters."

Lula’s voice rose. “You have modernized the games without ever dimming the flame of tradition. The opportunity now is to expand the games to new continents. Light the cauldron in a tropical country, in the most beautiful of cities. Send a powerful message to the world that the Olympic Games belong to all people, all continents, and to all humanity!”

The speech was followed by a drop-dead gorgeous, heart-stirring video of Rio and its people laughing, singing, dancing and—at the end—forming the five Olympic rings on Copacabana beach shot from the air.

Lula wept openly when the decision for Rio was announced. My sense is that Barack Obama is too controlled for such displays of emotion.

(You are invited to see this fascinating contrast in oratorical styles for yourself—Michelle and Barack vs. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The links are below.)

Where the Obamas and Chicago were humiliated by the lopsided IOC vote, I'm reminded of the story of Lyndon Johnson smoldering over being savaged by the Senate Democratic caucus of Jan. 3, 1961.

“I now know the difference between a caucus and cactus,” Johnson said to a reporter. “In a cactus, all the pricks are on the outside.”