By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — To Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize is an opportunity to exploit conservative outrage and raise funds. To John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, it's cause for national pride.
OBAMA'S WORDS: Attracting global attention
"Americans are always pleased when their president is recognized by something on this order," the Arizona senator said Sunday on CNN. William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, is not among them. On Fox News Sunday, he said Obama should have turned down a prize from "an anti-American committee."
The sharply different GOP responses to Friday's surprise announcement reflects deeper divisions within a party that must decide whether to cooperate with Obama as he faces tough decisions about Afghanistan and health care — or press its political advantage. Recent public opinion polls by Gallup show a majority approve of Obama's handling of foreign affairs but rate him lower on the economy and health care.
On one side, conservative hard-liners: Talk show host Rush Limbaugh's website featured the headline "Our president is a laughingstock" and portrayed Obama as the darling of "European leftist elites."
Steele echoed that notion in a letter sent within hours of the Nobel announcement that mockingly announced Obama won for "awesomeness."
"Democrats and their international leftist allies want America made subservient to the agenda of global redistribution and control," Steele wrote in an e-mail that invited contributions of up to $1,000. "And truly patriotic Americans like you and our Republican Party are the only thing standing in their way."
Joining McCain at the other end of the GOP spectrum: former secretary of State Henry Kissinger. A 1973 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his efforts to end the Vietnam War, Kissinger offered "warm congratulations" for the award, "which, beyond the tribute to your person, honors America and the cause of peace."
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