Opinion: Obama gets public opinion bounce from Nobel Peace Prize. George W. Bush gets bounce too. Go figure.

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The venerable polling organization Gallup is reporting this morning that President Obama appears to have gotten a slight bounce in public approval after he won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Despite near-universal disdain from the punditocracy (‘a wicked and ignorant award,’ said the Wall Street Journal), the public seems to like having a president who’s popular abroad, at least with the liberal ruling classes in Norway. As Gallup noted, the uptick is a departure from recent months, Obama’s best showing since a 58% reading in August,

But we wonder about Gallup’s conclusion. By its own account, Gallup finds the bounce more pronounced among independents and Republicans. Take a look.

Maybe the bounce has nothing to do with Oslo. Maybe independents and Republicans feel sorry for the president for going all the way to Copenhagen and failing to get the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.Or maybe, as former President George W. Bush is proving, laying low can soften the public view.

Obama has not made a healthcare speech in weeks, and his numbers rise. As for Bush, who left office with a 28% approval rating, he’s been pretty quiet on the ranch and the latest ABC/Washington Post poll found him at 33%.

-- Johanna Neuman

Charts from Gallup Poll

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