Chicago seems to have the Olympic bid wrapped up, except it doesn’t. That’s pretty much what we’ve seen the last few months: there are plenty of things in the city’s favor , just as there’s things that aren’t . No one seems to have a read on which city will get the bid on Friday; the BidIndex has had different cities on top at varying times (there’s never been a clear-cut favorite), and has all four locales extremely close now , with Rio having a slight edge over Chicago for the No.1 spot. So with everything so close, Chicago pulled an ace out of its sleeve this morning: Barack Obama and the first lady will be in Copenhagen to take part in the city’s presentation. In a race that’s so close, it’s a power play, one that might put Chicago, and by extension, the United States, over the top. So why announce now? NBC Chicago shows us the way : One: It was always so. The 2016 Olympic gang and the White House orchestrated a PR campaign that climaxes with the arrival, in Copenhagen, of the leader of the free world. Boo ya. Compelling, if only for the sheer conspiratorial excitement. Two: Luck. Obama found time in his schedule. Meh. If Obama was hedging in public, it was a political hedge. If he had committed to going weeks or months ago, his detractors would have made hay. Bails and bails of hay. Three: Seeing Rio take the No. 1 spot in contender rankings Sunday , and seeing that Tokyo’s prime minister finally decided to go to Copenhagen , the White House made their move to control the news cycle. I’m going to go with a combination of one and three. This was likely already in the works — would Obama really not try and give his city, as well as his country, a last push if/when it needed it? — but was announced today to control the Olympic news cycle, after some positive news from other bid cities emerged. Or maybe there’s a fourth option here: The world is conspiring to push the Lions’ win out of our collective memories . Yup, that must be it.

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The Timing Of Barack Obama’s Copenhagen Announcement