Eager to draw a comparison between Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln during a report for Saturday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Kevin Tibbles observed of the new film about the nation's 16th president: "No coincidence, perhaps, the film opens the week America's 21st century President won re-election in difficult times fraught with partisan bickering. Times in which many ask, what would Lincoln do?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Tibbles suggested the similarity immediately following a sound bite from director Steven Spielberg: "Lincoln advocated things we hold dear today. He advocated that government can be a positive force for the good of all people."
On Monday, MSNBC host Chris Jansing made a more blatant comparison between the current and past presidents: "But I don't know that even he could have predicted that at this moment when it's being released, there were these parallels, that you have a president who is newly elected, who faces a divided Congress and a divided country."
On Friday's Today, author Jon Meacham compared Obama to Thomas Jefferson.
Here is a portion of Tibbles' November 10 report:
6:27PM ET
LESTER HOLT: Finally tonight, days after our nation's 44th president was re-elected to a second term, this weekend the spotlight turns to America's 16th president – at the movies at least. Abraham Lincoln getting the big screen treatment courtesy of Steven Spielberg.
(...)
STEVEN SPIELBERG: Lincoln advocated things we hold dear today. He advocated that government can be a positive force for the good of all people.
TIBBLES: No coincidence, perhaps, the film opens the week America's 21st century President won re-election in difficult times fraught with partisan bickering. Times in which many ask what would Lincoln do?
MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: Well, in Lincoln you had a president who was very eager to unify the country, dealing with a congress that had all sorts of acrimonious factions. Somehow Lincoln had the genius to get everyone to work together.
(...)
