Asking Barack Obama to the Olympics

[raggedy13]

From the Vancouver Sun:

The art of asking Barack Obama to the Olympics

BY MIRO CERNETIG , VANCOUVER SUN COLUMNIST
JUNE 21, 2009 9:01 PM


Will U.S. President Barack Obama come to Vancouver for the Olympics?
Photograph by: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

A lot of people assume it’s a slam dunk Barack Obama, a well-known sports aficionado, will come to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, lending us some of his presidential aura. Don't be so sure.

The issue came up last week, when David Gergen, an adviser to four U.S. presidents, came to town for an economic forum. Asked how best to maximize hosting the Olympics — to both build international branding and also, perhaps, improve U.S-Canada relations — he urged a concerted effort to get the U.S. president to Vancouver for the games.

The Olympics already guarantees Vancouver a worldwide TV audience in the billions. But Obama would propel media attention into the stratosphere. A first family hasn’t had a global media love-in like this since JFK and Jackie O moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue almost 50 years ago.

“If President Obama visits, it would certainly get the attention of the world,” says John Furlong, head of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

But how does one go about inviting the President Of The United States, codename POTUS, to Vancouver? It’s tougher than you might think.

Officially, we can't even send out the official Olympic invitation to Obama. The International Olympic Committee protocol stipulates only a country’s Olympic organizing committee can invite a national leader. That means the U.S. Olympic Committee must invite Obama.

But there’s no guarantee it will. For one thing, U.S. officials I’ve spoken to privately suggested our Winter Olympics may only merit a vice-presidential or cabinet secretary visit. It’s not being viewed in Washington, D.C., as big an event as a Summer Games.

There’s also the 2016 Summer Olympics factor. Chicago, Obama’s hometown, is bidding for those games. If it wins, odds are good Obama will want to be in Vancouver next year, to meet with International Olympic Commission officials and promote the Chicago Olympics. If his hometown loses, though, chances of his attendance decrease.

But there are things Canada can do behind the scenes to better the odds of Obama attending.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson need to make requests for Obama’s attendance to both the White House and the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee. It may not be the official protocol, but it may help put 2010 on Obama’s radar.

To make Vancouver’s Olympics attractive to the White House, officials in the prime minister’s office need to think up an agenda for official meetings during the Games. This is to ensure Obama can argue there’s important government business to discuss. And there is: the revamping of the cross-border auto industry, mutual endorsement of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a look at Canada’s energy exports and how they fit into Obama’s climate-change agenda.

Don’t assume Prime Minister Harper is even thinking in this strategic vein. He’s proven to be tone deaf when it comes to parlaying the Olympics into positive political outcomes for Canada. In 2008, he snubbed China’s president Hu Jintao by refusing to attend the Beijing Summer Olympics. What’s the chance of China’s president coming to Vancouver in 2010 after that error? Zero.

There’s also the need for a back channel strategy. If we want to get Obama here, Canada needs to find someone with access to his inner circle and suggest the idea of attending the 2010 Olympics. Better yet, get the idea into the heads of two of the most effective lobbyists in the Oval Office — the first father’s two young daughters, Mailia and Sasha. He can't resist them.

Furlong thinks there’s a good chance Obama will be convinced to make a showing in Vancouver. The president’s “a sportsman,” he says, known for seeing sports as a vehicle for social change. And the U.S. will be sending one of the biggest teams to the Games, with NBC broadcasting non-stop — even Obama doesn’t get the opportunity to bask in that barrage of patriotic coverage every day.

So, it’s a no-brainer for Canada, B.C. and Vancouver to pull out all the stops to try to bring some Obamamania to Vancouver for 2010. The U.S. president’s presence offers a chance to build our brand, strengthen U.S.-Canada bonds and perhaps even stifle persistent anti-Canada and protectionist sentiments south of the border.

But we need to get going on our Obama strategy. The security planning for a U.S. presidential visit will take months. So when should we launch the campaign? How about yesterday?

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

BY MIRO CERNETIG
http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/asking+Barack+Obama+Olympics/1719381/story.html

[Yume-sama]

I hope he doesn't come. If you thought security was going to be bad before...!

[AlexYVR]

If the Sun wants to get Sasha and Malia on board, they should probably start by spelling their names correctly.