The Olympian One

Valerie Jarrett in the Trib, in The Politico, working for the Obama administration on Chicago's Olympic bid. The One has at least one vote:

Rania Elwani, an IOC member from Egypt who said she adores Obama and has a picture of him on her refrigerator, said the president’s support for Chicago’s bid would definitely have an impact on her vote.

“It’s important to know how much involvement the government is willing to show,” she said.

Well, what about that?:

No U.S. president has made an in-person pitch to the IOC and most have taken fairly hands-off approaches to the Olympics, according to David Wallechinsky, vice president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.

That’s in part because — unlike the national governments of most cities bidding for the Olympics— the U.S. government lacks a federal sports agency and is barred from directly financing the Olympic Games.

Will this be an impediment to this administration? And how much will it cost us? Am I the only one who has mixed feelings about this?

P.S. Obama tours are already popular in Chicago, but not complete:

An American Sightseeing bus tour does not, however, point out sites pertaining to controversial figures in Obama's career such as the vacant lot adjacent to Obama's home owned by Tony Rezko, a former Obama fundraiser now convicted for influence-peddling, or Trinity United Church, whose minister and the Obamas' pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose race-baiting rhetoric prompted Obama to cancel his membership during the presidential campaign.