Long before the recent election, Barack Obama often liked to compare himself to Abraham Lincoln. An adoring press followed suit. Googling “Obama and Lincoln,” results in over 14 million hits. Now many are of these are redundant and many have nothing to do with either Obama or Lincoln. But it is obvious that the idea of Obama as the reincarnation of Lincoln resonates with a great many folks, especially in the mainstream media. Consider just this small sample: Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe, “Obama’s Lincoln,” Newsweek, November 24, 2008, posted online November 15; The Associated Press, “Parallels between Obama, Lincoln,” November 10, 2008; Carolyn Kellogg, “Obama is Inspired by Lincoln’s Writings,” Los Angeles Times Online, November 07, 2008; Howard Fineman, “Obama and the Echoes of Lincoln,” Newsweek, October 6, 2008. The alleged Lincoln-Obama link has become so pervasive that even those of a liberal bent are beginning to protest.

The superficiality of much of the comparison is evident in the Newsweek piece by Thomas and Wolffe: