He dramatically personalized the U.S. bid by joining his wife in Copenhagen to appeal for the selection of his adopted city

What was Obama thinking?

By Frank Gaffney Jr.
Monday, October 5, 2009

In the wake of the debacle of Chicago’s rejection as the Olympic venue for the 2016 summer games, the question probably occurred to most Americans: What was President Obama thinking when he dramatically personalized the U.S. bid by joining his wife in Copenhagen to appeal for the selection of his adopted city?

Apparently, the answer lies with the hubris that has characterized Obama’s ascendancy. To be sure, most politicians have outsized egos. It is not just an occupational hazard; it seems to be a necessary character defect for many of those willing to submit themselves to the often nasty bump-and-grind of elective politics.

Still, Barack Obama has long seemed in a class of his own when it comes to his self-confidence, seemingly born of a charmed life of extraordinary opportunities and, by and large, a lack of accountability for his actions. In this case, his arrogance appears to have caused him and his handlers to believe that, by taking the unprecedented step of having an American president show up in person to lobby the International Olympic Committee (IOC), his rock-star status would assure Chicago’s selection.

It is clear that, in the aftermath of the IOC’s decision to eliminate America’s Windy City in the first round of voting and to select instead Rio de Janeiro, this rejection was not only a stunning personal failure for “The One,â€