Submitted by Avi Cornwall, Mar 24, 2008 16:56

While Mr. Holzer's scholarly review of Abe Lincoln's speech is certainly illuminating, I think he ultimately fails to grasp the key connection to Obama. Obama, like Lincoln before him, opted to say that which needed to be said, not that which was politically prudent. While the tone of Obama's speech last week was far from the "stern lecture" to which Holzer refers when comparing him to Lincoln, it was---as with Lincoln---the rights words at the right time, and flew in the face of conventional logic. Had the Reverend Wright crisis happened to Hillary, we can be sure that she would have thrown the pastor under the bus (and backed over him, too). No doubt this would have worked and, as much as possible, ended the controversy. But other than advancing political aspirations, what good comes of such a speech? Obama instead chose a different path. He chose one that is not likely to be met with immediate success, but perhaps one that will "wear well" in time. One can only hope.

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