Poll: Does Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?

The White House

President Barack Obama opens the door to welcome Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, in the Oval Office, on Oct. 29. (Photo by Chuck Kennedy/The White House)

By CNN

Story Created: Dec 10, 2009 at 12:09 AM PST

Story Updated: Dec 10, 2009 at 12:09 AM PST

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hours before Barack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a new national poll indicates that fewer Americans than ever think the president deserves the award. But according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, a majority of the public believes the president will eventually accomplish enough to merit the honor.

Nineteen percent of people questioned in the poll released Wednesday afternoon say Obama currently deserves the prize, with another 35 percent saying that it's likely he will eventually accomplish enough in office to deserve the award. Still, greater than four in 10 believe the president will never deserve the prize.

The 19 percent who believe Obama deserves the award is down 13 points from a CNN poll conducted in October, soon after the award was announced.

"That number dropped 21 among Democrats and 10 points among independents, possibly due in part to Obama's recent decision to send 30,000 more U.S. combat troops to the war in Afghanistan," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

But although most people do not think the president does not currently deserve the peace prize, seven in 10 questioned -- including a majority of Republicans -- say he should go to Oslo, Norway Thursday to accept the award.

The CNN Opinion Research Corporation national poll was conducted December 2-3, with 1,041 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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