Will Obama go to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympics?

The IOC vote is in Copenhagen on October 2. The Chicago folks desperately want Obama to show up for final in-person lobbying. The heads of state of the other countries will be there.

On Thursday, Robert Gibbs was asked about it at the daily press briefing, and said "Not that I'm aware of, no." But then said "Let me double-check on the President's schedule ... I should say -- I said that as far as the schedule I had seen, that was not planned ... It's hard for me to look into my invisible crystal ball."

(see the full transcript; it's kind of a ridiculous back-and-forth.)

Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel jumped on this, with the lede:

The White House on Thursday signaled that President Barack Obama was unlikely to travel to Copenhagen to personally deliver Chicago’s final pitch to the International Olympic Committee – a decision that would be a blow to his hometown’s prospects for landing the 2016 games.

(headline: "Obama unlikely to make Olympic pitch").

Others interpreted the news quite differently (i.e. Chicago Tribune, NYT) saying the matter seemed undecided (reflecting what the White House said in clarification after the briefing).

Whether he goes to Copenhagen or not, Obama will be guilty of causing great pain if Chicago wins.