The bogus Lincoln-Obama comparisons

CBS:

Barack Obama's arrival in Washington by train today harkens back to the inaugural White House trip of the former President who is Obama's political idol: Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, our 16th President rode the rails through New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania en route to the capital.

"He called it 'my circuitous journey,'" says Lincoln biographer Harold Holzer, an author or editor of 33 books about Lincoln, including his recently published "Lincoln: President-Elect."

"He knew that it was a cockeyed itinerary meant to expose him to as many people as possible. They say 250,000 people saw him - more than had ever cast eyes on a President in the history of the country."

...

The good news for Obama is that his transition period was not as disastrous as Lincoln's. As President elect, Lincoln refused to state how he would deal with the threats of succession letting the crazies imagination run wild.

But the obvious downside for Obama is the contrast of positions on the war. Lincoln was determined to win and Obama was determined to lose in Iraq. Obama has been closer to Lincoln's adversaries in the Democrat party, the Copperheads who were desperate for defeat in the Civil War.

Peter McKay at the Daily Mail also says Obama is no Lincoln.