Azizi, that column by Jack DuVall said, better than I could, what occurred to me shortly after I posted my last post.   By awarding Obama this honor they are not so much saying that he "won" a prize based on accomplishments (during or before his Presidency) as they are, in effect, 'nudging' him in the direction he seemed, early on, to be going and reminding him not to lose that focus.

To those (including the writers of SNL) who say he has not accomplished much - e.g., the closing of GITMO or withdrawing our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan --, let's not minimize the opposition he has been facing from the military-industrial complex. (You know, the one Gen./Pres. Dwight D Eisenhower warned us to beware?)    Laws have been passed to prevent any detainees from GITMO to be transferred to prisons in all, or at least most, of the states that have maximum security prisons, and releasing detainees to other countries is highly problematic too.   Obama even has a high level General openly challenging his policies and goals for Afghanistan in the media.   And the Republicans in the Senate seem hell bent on filibustering anything the Dems try to do that isn't exactly what they would do (and even some things they might otherwise approve of -- just because they want the Obama administration to fail).

In terms of why he was nominated so early -- as were many, many others -- let's not forget that he did have a record of policy stances and votes before the 2008 election. As an Illinois state legislator and as a US Senator, and even as a community organizer, much of what Obama worked for was equal rights, cooperation among groups, and peace.   Go back and listen to Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention.   Its focus was on bridging the gap and healing the often artificial yet increasingly hostile divide between regions, factions, and parties in the US (and around the world).

When the US was attacked on 9-11-01, for a brief moment the world was with us. Remember the French newspaper headline that translated "WE ARE ALL AMERICANS?"
But the Bush/Cheney administration, instead of seizing that moment to unite people of good will around the world against fanatical terrorism, basically poured fuel on the fires of racial, ethnic, and religious intolerance and of chauvinism and US supremacism.
Those who see war as an avenue to political power and wealth stepped into the breach and set us on a dangerous and unsustainable path.   
No, Obama, hasn't "turned the ship of state around full course" yet. We have a long way to go. But at least I think he and the Democratic Congress have begun that process.   And they need to be cheered on for that and prodded to go further.
I think that may be a lot of what the Nobel Peace Prize Committee had in mind.