President Obama awoke this morning in an unexpectedly tough spot as we heard an MSNBC anchor quip earlier, this may be the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded to someone that probably didn’t want it. Why? Because, since most people don’t think he deserved it, it feeds into the whole “Obama Gets By on His Celebrity But Hasn’t Accomplished Anything” strain of thought, which dates all the way back to the presidential campaign and continues to the present day. So Obama had to be extra humble when he addressed the media today, and he was. Agreeing with pretty much everyone, Obama said he didn’t think the prize was a “recognition of [his] own accomplishments,” so he accepted the award “as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.” Even so, he said, “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize.” That’s something people often say when accepting awards (like, “Every woman nominated for Best Supporting Actress deserves this Oscar”). This time, though, Obama probably meant it.
