The President and First Lady host trick-or-treating at a Halloween party for local schoolchildren, military families and White House staff. October 31, 2009.

The President speaks to small business owners about how health insurance reform is important not only to businesses and their employees, but also to the overall health of the economy. October 29, 2009

The surprise decision to award U.S. President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize elicited swift reaction Friday, with some hailing the choice and others expressing astonishment and skepticism.

Praise came from Afghanistan’s president, the Israeli defense minister and even a senior official from Hamas — the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza. Yet an Egyptian human rights activist said he was “shocked” that Obama won. And the Internet hummed with a range of views.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai — whose U.S.-backed government is locked in warfare with Islamic militants — praised the choice.

“We congratulate, wholeheartedly, President Obama on the award of this prestigious award,” said Karzai. “We recognize and commend President Obama’s vision and leadership with a hope that peace and normalcy will return to Afghanistan and our region.”

Yet Hisham Qasim, Egyptian democracy and human rights activist, said he was “shocked” Obama won.

“He has achieved nothing. He’s stumbling. He hasn’t achieved any of his promises and nothing is working. He promised to close Guantanamo and now that’s not going to happen, and the Arab-Israeli conflict looks like it’s going to get very nasty.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it gave the prize to Obama for his “efforts to strengthen international diplomacy,” his “vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons” and for inspiring hope and creating “a new climate in international politics.”

Many questioned what Obama had accomplished to deserve the award.

Gideon Rachman, a foreign affairs columnist for The Financial Times, wrote an online blog under the headline “What did Obama do to win the Nobel Peace Prize?”

“I am a genuine admirer of Obama. And I am very pleased that George W. Bush is no longer president. But I doubt that I am alone in wondering whether this award is slightly premature. It is hard to point to a single place where Obama’s efforts have actually brought about peace – Gaza, Iran, Sri Lanka?

“While it is OK to give school children prizes for ‘effort’ — my kids get them all the time — I think international statesmen should probably be held to a higher standard,” he wrote.

Obama has sought to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and officials from the Israeli government and Hamas sent congratulations and hope that the choice will help pave diplomatic ground.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he believes the prize “will strengthen President Barack Obama’s capability to contribute to regional peace in the Middle East, and to an agreement between us and the Palestinians that will bring security, growth and prosperity to all the nations in the region.”

Hamas official Ahmed Yousef also congratulated Obama, “though it is early for him to be awarded this prize.”

“He reached out to the Muslim world in his Cairo speech and said many of the right things” and said, “this is a man who thinks of achieving world peace.”

He said he believes Obama represents a “new era in American politics,” but thinks “the president has done nothing to push forward peace between Israeli and Palestinians” even though the “intention is there…it is an uphill battle with the Jewish lobby and Congress.”

“We know he is somebody different from past leaders who supported Israel economically and militarily,” Yousef said.

The Internet was alive with commentary from journalists, political leaders and ordinary people.

The winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, anti-communist Polish leader Lech Walesa, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as expressing surprise.

“Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast — he hasn’t had the time to do anything yet,” the paper’s Web site quoted Walesa as saying.

One person expressed “sheer disbelief” that Obama had won, in a Twitter posting, saying the prize should have gone to a person such as Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai because “he stood up to a murderous dictator.” Another person said she “seriously cannot believe they gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. Ridiculous.”

Others had praise. One person wrote: “My president Just won the Nobel peace prize!!!! Go prez Obama.”

Former Nobel peace laureates weighed in.

Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary general who won the peace prize in 2001, called the choice “unexpected but inspired.”

“In an increasingly challenging and volatile world, President Obama has given a sense of hope and optimism to millions around the world” and “has shown that the only way forward is through genuine cooperation with other nations.”

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, last year’s Peace Prize laureate, said it was clear the Nobel committee wanted to encourage Obama on the issues he has been discussing on the world stage.

Wangari Muta Maathai, the Kenyan who won the 2004 Peace Prize, said Obama’s win will help Africa move forward.

“I think it is extraordinary,” she said. “It will be even greater inspiration for the world. He has shown how we can probably come together, work together in a cooperative way.”

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel jokingly made reference to last week’s awarding of Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics — which some viewed as a snub to the United States after Obama went to Copenhagen, Denmark to make a pitch for Chicago.

“It’s clear Oslo beats Copenhagen any day of the week,” he told CNN.

As critics of last night’s Obama speech try to draw connections between the current president and former president Ronald Reagan, the rest of the nation awakes with a newly invigorated sense of hope, and a drive to do better. Something Reagan wished he could have done for sure, but missed the mark by a long shot.

President Obama challenged an entire generation to stay in school last night, saying that dropping out “was no longer an option”, and receiving a long ovation from members of both major parties for doing so.

“You’re not only letting yourself down, but your letting you’re letting your country down.”

Obama then went on to set a 2020 deadline on lawmakers, parents, and educators for making the US the world leader in college graduates once more, the largest challenge since Kennedy promising a man on the moon, and equally as daunting.

The president used this speech to expand on the ideas he campaigned on. Sighting changes before the end of the year in health care, freeing up the credit market, expanding renewable energy programs, and ending the war in Iraq swiftly. They were goals requiring a high approval rating and a majority congress, both of which this president has.

Thee speech was also a “no nonsense” affair. The president spelled it out in real terms, and then handed it off to lawmakers, and the American people to see the hard work done.

Critics say that the goals are too lofty and the promises were empty. “How can he plan to do all of this and cut the budget?” Pat Buchanan asked after the speech on The Rachel Maddow show. “It’s just too much,” he added.

Well, there is room for cutting spending, as the president stated last night. “We have begun going though he budget line by line, a daunting task that will take some time as you can imagine. But we have already made cuts that will save $5 trillion over the next 5 years.”

This is where Obama differs from Reagan. Obama inspires and drives us to do better. We want to sacrifice for the greater good. Reagan, he promised much, but expected it just to come to the American people even though they had to do nothing to get it. Hard work yields results, and the president’s critics seem to have forgotten this.

 - Miller