Obama, McCain Ring Olympics Boycott Bell

Barack Obama during a visit to Atlanta July 9. (ATR)(ATR) Perhaps oblivious to the potential harm that he might be causing to the bid for the 2016 Olympics from his hometown of Chicago, Barack Obama is suggesting that President George Bush should not attend the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told reporters Monday that he would tie attendance of the U.S. president at the Beijing Olympics to improvements in the relationship between China and the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

"In the absence of some sense of progress, in the absence of some sense from the Dalai Lama that there was progress, I would not have gone," said Obama who has previously indicated a willingness to consider an Olympic boycott.

President Bush says he will attend the opening ceremony August 8. He says to stay away would be an affront to China and make it more difficult to speak with Chinese leaders about controversial issues, such as Tibet and human rights in China. Bush will be the first U.S. President to attend an Olympics opening ceremony outside the country.

Obama appeared at a rally in Chicago for the bid last month and the possibility of his election as president is believed to be a plus for the bid. But considering the scorn the IOC holds for advocates of Olympic boycotts, Obama now would appear to bring some baggage to the Chicago campaign. John McCain has made comments that indicate that he would consider an Olympic ceremony boycott over political issues with China. (Getty Images)

Putative Republican nominee John McCain doesn’t seem to fare much better for the Chicago bid on the boycott question. He said earlier this year that if he were president, he would link attendance at the Olympics with human rights improvements in China. And McCain, a U.S. Senator from Arizona, raised concerns in 2001 with federal aid for the Salt Lake City Olympics.

However, the leading politician behind the Chicago bid, Mayor Richard Daley, has come out squarely against talk of Olympic boycotts.

Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky tells Around the Rings he is not aware of any efforts from Daley or other bid leaders to brief Obama or McCain on the implications that talk of a boycott would have on the Chicago Olympic bid.

"As a sporting organization, we don’t think the Olympic Games should be politicized in any way," says Sandusky.

"When politics and boycotts get involved with sports only the athletes end up suffering," he says, adding Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he opposes boycotts against the Olympics. (ATR)that Obama "has been supportive of the bid, of the Olympic movement".

But Sandusky said he could not respond to a question about whether Obama or McCain’s support of an Olympic boycott undermined the Chicago bid.

Madrd, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the other candidate cities.

Attempts by Around the Rings to elicit further explanations from Obama and McCain about their positions on Olympic boycotts have not been successful so far.

Having taken a stand on boycotting some part of the Olympics, both presidential candidates are now exposed to additional queries to explain their positions, which could make for some uncomfortable moments in the months ahead for Chicago and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Chicago and the USOC are counting on a welcoming attitude from the White House to the IOC in the lead-up to next year’s vote for a host for the 2016 Olympics.

Written by Ed Hula

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