Daley Recruits Bigshots For Olympic Support

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 15, 2009 4:00PM

Just a few days after unsurprisingly going back on his promise that the 2016 Olympic bid wouldn't need taxpayer money, Mayor Daley has announced he's going after some heavy hitters to rally support for Chicago's Olympic bid.

Calling President-Elect Barack Obama the "quarterback", Daley is working on rounding up a group of former ambassadors and ex-presidents to round out the cheerleading squad (a cheerocracy?). The logic behind such a move is that private citizens are allowed to approach (and thereby schmooze) members of the IOC, something that is a big no-no for members of the USOC. Whether or not this proves effective is anyone's guess and we're wondering if the most recent ex-President (or, rather, ex-President to be) George W. Bush will be invited along.

Also: Mayor Daley is going to use taxpayer money to pay for the Olympics.