Senate Screening of "Lincoln" Planned for Dec. 19

An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says that there will be a screening of "Lincoln" for lawmakers on Dec. 19.

The aide said that the screening of the movie will not be on the Senate floor, with the venue to be announced soon.

The screening of the Steven Spielberg's film undoubtedly will build visiblity, which can't hurt during Oscar season, but Reid told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week that he found the movie "so realistic" that he had been working on a special screening. He noted the movie's portrayal of the manuevering that went on to pass the Thirteenth Amendment as just "what I do" in trying to pass major legislation. According to the Review-Journal, Reid attended a screening of the movie at the White House last month.

"Lincoln" has struck a chord with the D.C. commentariat, with the acrimony over passage of the Thirteenth Amendment inviting comparisons to the dysfunction in Washington today. There is also an analogy to the timing of the debate over the end to slavery to the debate over the fiscal cliff, even if a bit tenuous. Like Lincoln, President Obama's fiscal cliff debate is taking place between his election to a second term and the inauguration.