A new Gallup poll seems to indicate that President Obama won’t be getting much of a domestic political boost from his recent Nobel Peace Prize victory:
PRINCETON, NJ — The majority of Americans do not believe President Barack Obama deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize (61%), but the public is split in its personal reaction to the announcement. Asked if they are “glad” Obama received the prize, 46% of Americans say yes and 47% say no.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s Oct. 9 announcement that President Obama had received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize caught the world by surprise. One Associated Press report on the day of the announcement was headlined, “Gasps as Obama Awarded Peace Prize.” Those startled by the announcement apparently included Obama himself, who said he was “surprised and deeply humbled” by the award. Obama appeared to recognize that the award was based more on the promise of his new administration than on its still-nascent record of accomplishments, saying, “Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.” He went on to say, “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize.”
The USA Today/Gallup poll conducted about a week after the announcement did not ask Americans whether they believe that the award may ultimately be deserved, or whether it was appropriately given in anticipation of the potential of the Obama administration’s peace efforts. The central question simply asked whether Obama “deserved” the award, and found Americans by roughly a 2-to-1 margin saying no rather than yes.
The absurdity of the award is, it seems, evident to all.
…evident to all, except for the Nobel Committee. Nooch.