It turns out Donald Trump and Abraham Lincoln have a lot more in common than a passing reference in the second presidential debate. You may recall a leaked transcript from one of Hillary’s closely guarded speeches had her admitting “both a public and a private position on certain issues.”
Hillary explained she was only following the duplicity precedent set by Abraham Lincoln during passage of the 13th Amendment.
It was an audacious lie, but a lie nonetheless.
As Trump said, “Now she’s blaming [her] lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln…okay, Honest Abe never lied…That’s the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”
It’s not surprising Hillary would use the dead to buttress a lie — rumor has it she blames Vince Foster for the email server — what’s surprising is learning Trump and Lincoln both confronted a similar governing situation.
Both lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College. Lincoln and Trump were met with riots instigated by political opponents. Each wanted to take control of the capital, although in Lincoln’s case it was Richmond.
Lincoln’s top priority was success on the battlefield, while Trump’s is success in the political arena, yet both must rely on subordinates who oppose their plans and hold them in contempt.
Lincoln’s burden was Maj. Gen. George McClellan. Trump’s is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McClellan.
Whoops, make that Mitch McConnell.
The parallels between these two timid, ineffective, self–protecting “leaders” and the damage they do their putative cause are remarkable. You’ll be amazed at my insight, but you know what comes next: First you’ll have to click on the link below to be taken to Newsmax.com to read the remainder of the column.
Michael R. Shannon (The Whole Shebang (mostly)) is a Virginia-based public relations and media consultant with MANDATE: Message, Media & Public Relations who has worked in over 75 elections on three continents and a handful of islands.
