Michelle Obama Plans Dramatic Pitch for Olympics, Jarrett Says

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A top White House adviser said first lady Michelle Obama is planning to make a dramatic presentation when she offers the closing argument for the bid by her hometown of Chicago to win the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“There won’t be a dry eye in the room,” said Valerie Jarrett, who plans to travel with the first lady to Copenhagen for the Oct. 2 International Olympic Committee vote.

“I’m sure that it will touch the hearts of each of the IOC members,” Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said today in an interview.

Jarrett declined to say what the first lady will tell the IOC. The stakes are high because winning the games would be an economic boost nationally, as well as for Chicago, she said.

“It will be a huge economic engine for Chicago, but it will have a ripple effect throughout the country,” Jarrett said, adding that U.S. corporations have voiced support for Chicago’s bid.

Michelle Obama is leading the U.S. delegation to Copenhagen, where the IOC will choose among Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

Getting the games would mean billions of dollars in construction, tourism, sponsorships and advertising, as well as national prestige. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has pledged his city will take financial responsibility for the undertaking, now budgeted at $4.8 billion.

McDonald’s Corp., based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is one of the many Chicago-area companies following the bid. The fast- food company is one of nine global Olympic sponsors with exclusive marketing rights.

Appeal for African Support

In the closing days of the campaign, the U.S. is making an appeal to IOC members from African nations.

Jarrett, for example, was scheduled to attend reception this evening in Washington for African ambassadors organized by U.S. Representative Bobby Rush, a Democrat who represents a swath of Chicago’s South Side.

“This isn’t just the president and the first lady,” said Jarrett, 52, who grew up in Chicago and is a longtime friend of the Obamas. “Our entire congressional delegation is behind this as well.”

Jarrett stressed Chicago’s diversity and said more than 100 languages are spoken throughout the city because of its many ethnic neighborhoods.

“It’s a city where no matter what your race, your religion, your nationality, your ethnicity, you can come to Chicago, work hard and follow your dreams,” she said. “That’s kind of the embodiment of the Olympic spirit.”

White House Topic

With so many fellow Chicagoans in top White House jobs, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser David Axelrod, Jarrett said the bid is a constant topic. “We talk about it every single morning together as we meet,” she said.

Although the president isn’t planning to attend the Copenhagen session, Jarrett said he is still working the phones.

“Every vote counts and so he’ll be reaching out to everyone and trying to make it clear to everyone how Chicago is absolutely the best possible place to host the Olympics,” she said.

Jarrett said Michelle Obama will meet in Copenhagen with IOC members, especially ones known to have questions about the U.S. bid. “Our hope would be to be able to spend as much time individually with IOC members who perhaps are on the fence and convince them,” she said.

Like the president, Michelle Obama, 45, keeps a rigorous fitness routine, exercising six or seven days a week. Still, she is less of a sports junkie than he.

“She’s not a Sports Channel fanatic,” Jarrett said. “But she certainly enjoys a good sporting event.”

IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a conference call from Lausanne, Switzerland with journalists today that a Sept. 9 vote by the Chicago City Council in support of a full financial guarantee helped the U.S. bid.

“We’re totally satisfied of the signature by Mayor Daley,” he said. “There is no issue on that.”

To contact the reporter on this story: John McCormick in Washington at jmccormick16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jim Kirk at jkirk12@bloomberg.net.