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 [1]]
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 [2]
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 [3].
Here is a portion of Tibbles' November 10 report:
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.
(...)
KEVIN TIBBLES: The film has been a decade-long labor of love for director 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.
(...)