Looks like reality just slapped the Boston 2024 pooh-bahs in the face. After a really terrible two weeks, in which the folks trying to bring the Olympics to Boston saw their poll numbers nosedive so that a majority of Boston-area respondents (52%) now oppose the idea, were so embarrassed by the revelation that they were planning to pay ex-Gov. Deval Patrick an eye-popping $7,500 a day for boosting the bid that Patrick himself had to reverse course and say he’d do it for free, and came close to losing the support of their most sympathetic Globe columnist, they’ve come around to what should have been obvious from the get-go: they cannot have an Olympics in Boston unless the people want it. From today’s Globe:

The local Olympic bid committee says it will move forward with a proposal to bring the 2024 Summer Games to Boston only if a majority of the public shows support for the effort — and the panel would be open to a statewide referendum to accomplish that. “We’re only in this if we have a majority with us,” said Richard Davey, chief executive of the bid committee, Boston 2024, in a Globe interview over the weekend. “It’s clear we have to find a measure to show that support. How we measure, we’re open to that.” … Davey stopped short of directly calling for a referendum, saying the committee is open to how the support would be measured, either with a vote or through public polling closer to the deadline for submitting a bid.

This is a startling turnabout from Boston 2024’s earlier statements, which (under now-departed president Daniel O’Connell) seemed to take the position that even a defeat at the ballot wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of the bid. Perhaps not coincidentally, O’Connell is now gone from the process, and that surprising line hasn’t been repeated.

Boston 2024’s newfound commitment to majority public support is certainly welcome – some of us have been saying from day 1 that Boston 2024 should be the first to embrace the idea of a ballot question.

It’s politically stupid not to hold a referendum. A positive result allows backers to proclaim that the public is behind the bid, without fear of contradiction. Whereas relying on polls, or on elected officials, can and will always be second-guessed…. I frankly can’t imagine what the case against a public referendum would be. So come on, Boston 2024 and Mayor Walsh, just back a referendum. Then everyone will know that you mean it when you say that you only want to have the Olympics in Boston if the people are behind it.

This new position is one point of a ten-point plan that Boston 2024 announced in a full-page newspaper ad that ran in the Metro section of today’s Globe (click image for larger version). The ad acknowledges that “[t]here are legitimate concerns and potential risks associated with this effort that must be addressed in a thoughtful and transparent manner for the Games to work in Massachusetts.” The plan then promises that Boston 2024 will bid only if:

Hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is consistent with the future of Boston and Massachusetts and leaves both better for hosting the Games. Tens of thousands of good-paying jobs are created for Massachusetts residents leading up to and during the 2024 Games. Thousands of affordable housing units are created as a result of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 2024 Games serve as a catalyst for improvements in public transportation and infrastructure that benefit residents both pre and post-Games. The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games create opportunities for transit-oriented, mixed-use development in the City of Boston. There is a clear and measurable plan for the inclusion of women and minority-owned businesses in all aspects of the 2024 Games. Education and youth sports opportunities are created for the young people of Massachusetts. A sophisticated plan, including multiple layers of insurance, is put in place to protect the city and state from financial risk. The federal government designates the 2024 Games in Boston as a Special National Security Event and pays for the security costs. A majority of people in Massachusetts support bidding for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

That all sounds great, I guess … though it’s funny that majority support is #10. Shouldn’t it be #1? In any event, we all anxiously await specifics, especially on items like #8, and also on why people like economist Andrew Zimbalist (the Commonwealth’s Olympic skeptic-in-chief), writing in today’s Globe that the jobs and economic benefit numbers in UMass’s recent study are highly suspect, are wrong.