If President Obama didn’t exactly dominate Mitt Romney during their debate on Wednesday night, he got a nice subliminal boost courtesy of Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis. Following the political wrestling match, Disney ran an extended TV spot for Lincoln that finally justified all of the early Oscar talk the film has generated and and not-so-subtly established Lincoln and Obama as kindred spirits. After a series of emotionally charged scenes that depict Lincoln, played by Day-Lewis, grappling with Civil War (depicted in Saving Private Ryan -style brutality) and the politically unpopular idea of abolishing slavery, the clip closes with the two-time Oscar winner declaring, “I am the President of the United States of America…clothed in immense power!” That rousing movie moment called to mind a slightly less riveting one: President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in early September in which he said, “Times have changed, and so have I. I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President.” The line got plenty of media pick-up and, as the New Yorker reported , evoked a scene from the Aaron Sorkin-scripted 1995 film The American President . In the movie, Michael Douglas, who plays besieged president Andrew Shepherd, addresses attacks from a political challenger by saying: “If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up. This is a time for serious people….My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am the President. Sorkin’s line is cool, but the one delivered by Day-Lewis, which was written by Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner carries more force. And I much prefer the idea — purely of my own imagining — that Obama had advance intelligence about the highly anticipated Lincoln movie and script and was able to use it to his political advantage. How’s that for a Left-wing Hollywood conspiracy theory? Take a look at the spot below and tell me what you think. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
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WATCH: Post-Debate Lincoln TV Spot Reminiscent Of Obama’s "I Am The President" DNC Speech
