This top-10 list in going around:

Top 10 reasons Chicago didn't get the Olympics:

10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings

9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with Gen. McChrystal

8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.

7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.

6. Obviously no president would have been able to acomplish it.

5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.

4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created".

3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee

2. Because the IOC is racist.

1. It's George Bush's fault.

"...but I hope somebody at the White House gets taken to the woodshed on this one." (Stephen M. Walt)

I think it should be pretty obvious that President Obama is not going to be taking Michelle Obama to the woodshed.

I think that the president should be aware even before going to Copenhagen that the chance of Chicago winning the bid was slim because of the following reasons. The US economy is in tatter, the country is high on the target list of non state actors, the US is trying hard to regain its prestige after the ME debacle and the country at the current stage cannot afford such venue. Brazil is an emerging power and the Latin American countries never had the chance to host this great event. The president's advisers made a huge mistake in having him through his weight behind this. There is nothing for the republican to be happy, it is America that lost another opportunity to showcase its greatness and erase the stains of Iraq, Afghanistan and the torture saga.
It goes without saying that this failed attempt can cause a minor political setback for the president on a very sort term basis, but he still have a chance to make a comeback in the negotiation with Iran. There is a chance for a real October surprise. I think that Rio de Janeiro deserves to be awarded the coveted prize, and I wish them the best.

Denmarks representative at the IOC, Kai Holm, was quoted - after the first round had ended, and before the final result [For the record: The result was announced around 18.30] - as saying:

BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, Friday 2 October 2009, 18:18 :Kai Holm: Chicago viste mangel på respekt [Chicago showed lack of respect]

The fact that Barack Obama came couldn't make it. I think people needed feelings, it seemed all too empty and businesslike. When Tony Blair promoted London he went around for three days lobbying and talked to people. You just can't drop in one day and try to put your mark on the whole thing. People have felt, that there was a lack of respect for The Olympic Games and for sport as a whole. I think that people have felt that it was too businesslike just to drop in like that, after all people have seen this before and they wanted some feelings back into it.

The exit in the first round was a reaction against that and against that politicians should not be allowed to take over the show, said Holm, who now believes Madrid is going to win.

- I told you Madrid and Rio would go to the final. And I hope for Madrid, whose bid was very fine.

[Pictured: Kai Holm and Mrs. Obama]

Note: The famous footballplayer Pelé had been in town for many days, an he - as you all know - is able to put feelings into it. He remains widely popular everywhere.

Professor in Sport History at the University of Copenhagen, Hans Bonde:

BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, Friday 2 October 2009: Derfor fejlede Obamas plan [The reason Obama's plan failed]

The fact that Chicago went out that early, suggest to me that Obama never understood the psychology of the IOC. When Tony Blair was able to turn events in favour of London with a surplus of four votes, he didn't have time for it neither, but he took time for it. In the course of four days he met with all the IOC-members, he had a dossier of every member, had agents in the lobby [of the hotel], who could send the members up to his suite. And then he could say: ”Welcome,- and how is your wife and your two kids.” He knew the birth-places of each member and what education they had, so his guests felt that they were being taken seriously, in contrast to the way Obama was conducting things.

- Here came Obama just before deadline and made a showoff. He won the battle in the media, no doubt about it, but in the end that proved unimportant. The IOC-members did not feel that they were important,and they felt like they were reduced to onlookers, not co-players. So if he should had come at all, he should have allowed for the personal winning-over/bonding.
[Pictured: Obama speaking to the delegates]

It wasn't a huge deal. But then if it wasn't a huge deal, then why did you even write a column about it?? I'm glad Obama went, and just because Chicago was ousted in the first round, doesn't mean he shouldn't have gone!!! Do you suppose if he didn't go, he would have been criticized for not going?? You bet he would. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. It is amazing what a president gets criticized for.

Here's why Obama might have gone to Copenhagen:

Both his wife Michelle and aide (and bid co-chair) Valerie Jarrett are some of the most plausible successors to Richard Daley as mayor of Chicago. Remembering that being mayor of Chicago makes you one of the most powerful politicians in the US, given substantial powers over jobs, ballot slating, voting blocs, and $500m per yr via TIF districts that are outside city council supervision. And it's a job that both would clearly relish post-White House.

The Olympics would have been an excellent way for one of them to slide into that role. If Barack hadn't showed, people who have always blamed him by asking "what if?"

McD

Tony Blair is widely credited for tipping the 2012 vote in London's favor. French leader Jacques Chirac was also there in Singapore. Vladimir Putin did much the same thing two years later, when Sochi won the 2014 Olympics.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Spanish King Juan Carlos as well as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero went to Denmark, while new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama also flew in. So Obama wasn't alone.

This is a good point. Personally, I think Chicago lost for the simple reason that Rio de Janeiro was seriously in the running for the 2016 Olympics, and seeing as how there has never been a South American Olympics before, the IOC probably figured it would drum up serious interest and funding (not surprising, when you consider how the Chinese government pulled no stops last year).

That's no guarantee, of course (London got the 2012 Olympics, after all), but it does help.