President Barack Obama, who initially planned to let First Lady Michelle Obama represent the United States in Copenhagen this week, when the International Olympic Committee chooses a site for the 2016 summer games, plans to travel there too….

“There is no greater expression of the support our bid enjoys, from the highest levels of government and throughout our country, than to have President Obama join us in Copenhagen for the pinnacle moment in our bid,” said Chicago 2016 Chairman and CEO Patrick G. Ryan.

 

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This is the best news I’ve heard in a while.

 

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After all, if the president is going to Copenhagen for something that is relatively inconsequential both substantively and politically — it’s not like Illinois is in great jeopardy for the Dems — then I can now predict with high confidence he will be go to Copenhagen in December for the climate talks, which w

ill be crucial for helping achieve a global deal.

Success in Copenhagen this week gets Obama the Chicago Olympics in the final year of his presidency, a tiny, but fleeting, salute (if he gets a second term).  Success in December — not a final deal, of course, but moving the ball forward to achieve such a deal next year — ensures that Obama is not seen as a failed president historically and that he is not viewed as a failure internationally for however long he is president.