For Obama, frustration in comparisons to LBJ

WASHINGTON (AP) — Perhaps no historical analogy irks the White House more than the comparisons between Presidents Barack Obama and Lyndon B. Johnson, two Democrats who occupied the Oval Office a half-century apart.

Obama’s advisers bristle at the suggestion that the current commander in chief could break through congressional gridlock if only he could emulate Johnson’s hands-on approach to wrangling votes on Capitol Hill. Obama’s team argues that both the Republican Party and the broader political landscape have shifted so significantly since the 1960s that there is little use in harkening back to Johnson’s cajoling, arm-twisting and physically intimidating lawmakers to back his priorities.