OBAMA'S NOBEL IS EXCELLENT NEWS FOR JOHN McCAIN

Kathy, in comments to the earlier post about the Nobel:

Honestly, I really wish the Committee hadn't done this. It's a well-deserved stick in the eye to the Bush administration, but it would have been better to wait a few years and give Obama some time to build a real, solid peacemaking record. Giving him the award now just provides more fodder for wingnuts.

... Free Republic is already going nuts. It just feeds their fixation on minorities getting things they "don't deserve".

Even though I'm usually the gloomiest person in the room, I'm not really worried about this. I start being concerned about right-wing frothing when it begins to affect what swing voters think -- see, for instance, "death panels." Wingnuts are upset that Obama won the Nobel, but I don't see what they've got yet that will sound reasonable to swing voters. They may think he didn't deserve it, but I don't know what reasonable person will blame him for having this bestowed on him.

The only matter I think is of any concern right now is the wingnuts' he-should-turn-it-down meme:

"Turn it down! Politely decline. Say he's honored but he hasn't had the time yet to accomplish what he wants to accomplish," writes Mickey Kaus, a liberal-ish [BWAHAHAHAHA! -- Ed.] blogger for Slate.

...Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton also said Obama should decline the prize. "The Nobel committee is preaching at Americans, but they won't be deceived," he told National Review. "He should decline it and then ask to be considered again in three or four years when he has a record." ...

Idiots in the mainstream press will definitely retransmit this one. But America likes winners. I don't think it'll take.

Now, the acceptance speech will be another matter. Regarding that, Kaus is already in concern-troll mode, listing as an advantage of rejection the fact that Obama "doesn't have to waste time, during a fairly crucial period, working on yet another grand speech." It'll be worse when Obama goes to Sweden -- then the wingers are going to really unload. They'll grumble about the cost of the trip, about Michelle's wardrobe, about some trumped-up triviality or other that will be redefined by Drudge in a red screaming headline as a massive diplomatic gaffe.... And even if it's the best speech giving in English since "I Have a Dream," they'll grumble (too many personal pronouns!).

Still, I don't think it'll take -- normal Americans like his speeches. They like his bearing. They like his standing in the world, and what he's done for America's standing.

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UPDATE: Oops -- maybe I spoke too soon. From Nancy Gibbs, writing for Time:

Obama's Nobel: The Last Thing He Needs

Feel free to read to the end. I couldn't get past this:

But even his fans know that none of the dreams have yet come true, and a prize for even dreaming them can feed the illusion that they have.

Um, if even his fans know that none of the dreams have yet come true, then even his fans aren't harboring any illusion that they have. Or am I missing something here?

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OH, AND: Wait for the second poll on this. The first one will be from Rasmussen, and will find widespread disapproval of the award. Of course, if Obama were to cure cancer, a Rasmussen poll would find widespread disapproval.