The Republican party, with the major exception of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, jumped all over President Obama for his decision to make a personal appeal in Copenhagen, before the International Olympic Committee, for his home city of Chicago to be the site of the 2016 Olympics.
Unfortunately, the decision of Obama and the First Lady to take this step failed today, as Rio de Janeiro was chosen, leading to glee by Rush Limbaugh and other talk show hosts, and continued criticism by Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and others.
The assertion that Obama was wasting time needed for other endeavors was preposterous, as all his brief trip did was rob him of sleep, and the GOP seems to have forgotten that President Bush attended the Beijing Olympics for four days last summer as the economy was in process of collapse.
Mitt Romney, who had been involved in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, was the sole leader of his party to applaud the effort by the President. He should be complimented for this, and he joins Lindsey Graham as two rare, responsible Republicans who are willing to give some credit to the President despite their party loyalty.
People such as Graham and Romney give the GOP some hope of a future that Americans might embrace, but the question is can these and others like them win back control of their party to prevent continued disaster in the fortunes of the GOP? We shall see over the next few years!