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NEW YORK - Americans greeted President Barack Obama's surprise winning of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday with joy, astonishment and derision.
From Obama's longtime hometown of Chicago to the Latino community in Miami and African American streets of New York -- not to mention across the blogosphere -- there was shock and decidedly mixed reactions.
Many wondered whether Obama had done enough, nine months into his presidency, to stand alongside Nelson Mandela and other Nobel heroes.
But supporters noted Obama's eloquent push for reconciliation between the United States and an increasingly hostile world, particularly his attempt to build bridges with Muslim countries.
Dianne Durante, who lives in Obama's old Chicago neighborhood, said people had doubts about Obama's leadership, but the prize showed "his problem solving and conflict resolution abilities must be pretty good."
Fellow Chicagoan Mike Bass said Obama is "a Chicago guy and we're very proud of him."
Hurrying to work outside the New York Stock Exchange, Maria Hirak also expressed joy.
"I think it is well deserved, he is doing his best. He is doing good, trying to keep peace in the world," she said.
"It was a good choice. He has really changed the public discussion around the world about the US," said Bruce Schachne, who also works in finance. "He is focused on nuclear weapons, on the Middle East, on reaching out to Muslims."
In Miami, Cuban exile and supermarket employee Ana Corrales said Obama "deserves it because he wants to end this old fight which has so harmed and divided Cuban families."
There were also ecstatic reactions from some in Harlem, New York's traditionally African American neighborhood where Obama, the country's first black president, has fervent support.
"I think it was a wonderful choice because he's definitely bringing people together. He's getting people to talk," one woman said, with reference to Obama's emphasis on healing inter-racial tensions.
"That's wonderful. He's very peaceful. He's a Godsend. He's a good person, he's a very good person," another woman said, overcome with happiness.
But detractors on Wall Street, which is clawing its way out of the turmoil of the US financial collapse that struck just before Obama's election last year, said the president is more talk than action.
A man who would only identify himself as J.P., 44 years old, said he was shocked.
"I don't think he has done anything. He is more style than substance. The Nobel is a highly political thing and a beauty contest, it is not about substance.
"There are much more people out there doing more for peace than the president. He is just visible."
Mary, who also declined to give her full name, and who works in insurance, echoed that sentiment.
"Nobody knows what he has done. He hasn't accomplished anything," she said.
Noting that only two other sitting US presidents had received the honor -- Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson -- she said Obama was not of the same caliber. "It is biased, nonsense and silly."
Perhaps more surprisingly, similar criticism could be heard in Harlem.
Obama "is not really as powerful as other presidents. So things they do to make him look good is just a stunt for the public, for people to feel like things are happening. But for a president to win a Nobel prize is nothing special," one man said.
"It was too early," an African American woman said. "There are a lot of other people out there who have done some good. It was just too early. What has he done to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?"
She added: "I love him as a president, but it's too early."
Blogs reflected that same range of reactions, although often in the cruder, louder language of anonymous commentators.
"Well now I've seen everything. That is even more highly disturbing than that snake getting elected," moaned a contributor to comments on a Fox News report about the prize. "It's a sick, sick world. God help us all."
Divisions were also raw on the New York Times' reader blog, leading one contributor to express dismay.
"Frankly, I cannot get my head around how winning the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize can be interpreted by sane, intelligent people as a liability anywhere," the blogger said.
"It speaks of a cynical, unfair, egoistic, self-serving and mad society to turn such a positive into a negative."
- AFP /ls
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