Obamas: Pick Chicago, 'Most American' City

Barack and Michelle Obama made an impassioned call today to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, which the president called the "most American of American cities." In his pitch to the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen, the president told of how he became "a proud Chicagoan" after a peripatetic childhood and fell in love with the diversity and ambition of the Second City. The first lady made a deeply personal presentation. She spoke about how her father instilled a love of sports in all of his children despite his battle with multiple sclerosis.

Chicago is seen as neck-and-neck with Rio de Janeiro in today's vote, and the American delegation is pressing the flesh with committee members to secure every advantage. Obama's team is particularly seeking to win commitments from those still supporting the lagging bids of Madrid and Tokyo. The vote takes place over several elimination rounds, and the Americans are trying to assure they'll back Chicago if their first choices are eliminated.
(More Chicago stories.)