The movement to get international
leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
China is essentially over, signaling the probable failure of the entire
Olympics boycott movement.
Last week, President Bush
announced he will be going to the opening ceremony for the Olympics, and the
next day, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he too would attend the
ceremony. While some world leaders will not attend, such as the leaders of
Poland and Estonia, their absence will not have much of a political impact.
Previously, Boycott Watch reported how the boycott
of the Beijing Olympics was a failure before it launched
(http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/olympics-03.htm) and how the U.S. could not
afford to boycott the Olympics
(http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/olympics-01.htm). The fact is that no matter
how much Americans may hate China, our economies are so intertwined these days
that we simply can not afford such a boycott, especially considering the
investments businesses made and paid for months ago in the form of
sponsorships. These companies need to have a strong return on their advertising
investment in the form of increased sales.
The big
winner in the Olympics may be the U.S. economy. A strong return on investments
in the Olympics, which will be held in early August, may result in an upturn in
the U.S. economy. If that happens, the Republicans will surely benefit in the
November elections, and both Republicans and Democrats know it. By just
attending the Olympics, President Bush will increase the ratings for the
opening ceremony, thus the rest of the Olympics, and that will result in a
larger number of people seeing the advertising of sponsors, this resulting in
increased sales for sponsors.
Additionally, the more
people plan to watch the Olympics, the more beer and snack sales will go up, as
well as demand for large screen TV's, DVR's, and stereo systems to make the
viewing the Olympics more pleasurable . Then there are the secondary products
to go with these party sales, such as team merchandising, and even extra
garbage bags to accommodate the trash from the extra junk food purchased for
ones self and perhaps guests.
The Olympics may be
the boost the economy needs, and President Bush realizes that a stronger
economy will also help McCain in November. As such, Democrats will press
President Bush not to go to China as they have in the past. Sadly, the U.S.
economy will be used as a pawn in Presidential politics in a time where all
Americans should be rooting for our great nation to have record a breaking
medal winning year. Building the U.S. economy is in everyone's interest,
regardless of politics. |
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