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Byline:ADAM NAGOURNEY© 2009 New York Times News ServiceWASHINGTON ‚ President Barack Obama is given to big events at big moments, replete with stirring speeches, lofty backdrops and stadium-size crowds.But when Obama walked into the Rose Garden on Friday morning having just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ‚an honor that would normally be a moment of high celebration, if not the culmination of a life’s work ‚ he was humble and self-deprecatory, popping a hole in the balloon of his own accomplishment. "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 said.Whatever it meant on the world stage, in the United States the award to Obama was a decidedly mixed blessing. It was a reminder of the gap between the ambitious promise of his words and his accomplishments.So while he accepted the award and said he would travel to Oslo to pick it up, Obama also sought to minimize any impression that he was basking in the glory or forgetting that he was a long way from achieving the goals ‚ ridding the world of nuclear weapons, stopping global warming, bring peace to the Middle East, among others ‚ that the judges seemed to expect of him. Even before Obama made it to the Rose Garden, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, had issued a statement mocking Obama, a line of attack that was echoed on conservative blogs and radio talk shows throughout the day."Can you imagine, folks, how big Obama’s head is today?" Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk-show host, told his listeners. "I think it’s getting so big that his ears actually fit."One recognition of the tricky politics the award presents came from Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican who is considering challenging Obama in 2012."I know there’s going to be some people who are saying ‚ “Was it based on good intentions and thoughts, or is it going to be based on results?‚ " Pawlenty said on his radio show on WCCO in Minneapolis. "But I think the appropriate response, or an appropriate response, is when anybody wins a Nobel Prize, you know that is a very noteworthy development and designation and award, and I think the proper response is to say congratulations."
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