Could Abe Lincoln Win a Debate Against Barack Obama and Mitt Romney?
After watching the two presidential candidates debate, I couldn't help wonder how Abe Lincoln might have fared under the bright lights of today's media, and the unblinking scrutiny of spin masters who seize on every slip of the tongue to promote their candidate.
Could Abe Lincoln win the presidency in the age of the sound bite, I asked myself? Could he out-poll candidates who are packaged and promoted like a box of cereal? Could he outwit the two fast-talking men we are now being asked to judge? In reality, Lincoln took much the same kind of public flogging that today's candidates have to endure.
Like Mitt Romney, Lincoln was actually faulted for being wealthy.
His political opponents accused "Honest Abe" of misleading the public about his finances - a home, two farms, three vacant lots and $100,000 in government bonds.
They accused him of being a tool of powerful special interest groups like the abolitionists and the wealthy east coat railroad barons.
They said he was a flip flopper because he changed his stance more than once on slavery before finally issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
They twisted his words.
Like Obama, Lincoln was accused of bringing the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.
They said that he financed his war by signing the National Currency Act of 1863.
They blamed inflation on him.
They said he was a traitor who trampled on our constitutional rights by suspending due process of law.
They blamed Lincoln for rising taxes and said the nation could not afford four more years of his administration.
They said he was an atheist and a traitor, a second Benedict Arnold.
The southern states even refused to put Lincoln's name on the ballot.
They called him an ape and a black Republican.
They nicknamed him "Stinkin Lincoln.
" His opponents said Lincoln was a loser incapable of leading the nation through perilous times.
After all, they pointed out, Lincoln had lost his congressional seat and his campaign for the senate; he had lost more than half of the cases he had brought to court as an attorney.
And yet, Lincoln won.
He won with less than 40% of the popular vote.
But he won.
He won because his opposition was so divided it could not put its full support behind any one candidate.
To paraphrase Lincoln, a political party divided against its self cannot stand.
Lincoln wasn't perfect; neither are today's candidates.
But there can be no debate about the fact that Lincoln proved himself to be a great president.
After all the political campaigning has ended, we'll be left with only two choices on Election Day.
Let us hope that the choice we make for president will rise above petty politics to firmly grasp the challenges facing our nation-much as Lincoln did.
Could Abe Lincoln win the presidency in the age of the sound bite, I asked myself? Could he out-poll candidates who are packaged and promoted like a box of cereal? Could he outwit the two fast-talking men we are now being asked to judge? In reality, Lincoln took much the same kind of public flogging that today's candidates have to endure.
Like Mitt Romney, Lincoln was actually faulted for being wealthy.
His political opponents accused "Honest Abe" of misleading the public about his finances - a home, two farms, three vacant lots and $100,000 in government bonds.
They accused him of being a tool of powerful special interest groups like the abolitionists and the wealthy east coat railroad barons.
They said he was a flip flopper because he changed his stance more than once on slavery before finally issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.
They twisted his words.
Like Obama, Lincoln was accused of bringing the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.
They said that he financed his war by signing the National Currency Act of 1863.
They blamed inflation on him.
They said he was a traitor who trampled on our constitutional rights by suspending due process of law.
They blamed Lincoln for rising taxes and said the nation could not afford four more years of his administration.
They said he was an atheist and a traitor, a second Benedict Arnold.
The southern states even refused to put Lincoln's name on the ballot.
They called him an ape and a black Republican.
They nicknamed him "Stinkin Lincoln.
" His opponents said Lincoln was a loser incapable of leading the nation through perilous times.
After all, they pointed out, Lincoln had lost his congressional seat and his campaign for the senate; he had lost more than half of the cases he had brought to court as an attorney.
And yet, Lincoln won.
He won with less than 40% of the popular vote.
But he won.
He won because his opposition was so divided it could not put its full support behind any one candidate.
To paraphrase Lincoln, a political party divided against its self cannot stand.
Lincoln wasn't perfect; neither are today's candidates.
But there can be no debate about the fact that Lincoln proved himself to be a great president.
After all the political campaigning has ended, we'll be left with only two choices on Election Day.
Let us hope that the choice we make for president will rise above petty politics to firmly grasp the challenges facing our nation-much as Lincoln did.
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