Reihan: Lincolnian Conservatism?

I think it's worthy of note that Matt Continetti, David Brooks, and other quirkycons ("neoconservative" is a little limited) claim Abraham Lincoln as their "grandaddy." Paleocons, of course, despise Lincoln as a centralist tyrant. Liberals lionize him as one of their own: a partisan of human freedom, a strong state, and democracy. Quirkycons ("reformocons" seems self-serving) look to his strange mix of strong statism, Whiggish pefectionist moralism, the cult of self-reliance, and democratic triumphalism. I guess this is true of all great historical figures: we see what we want to see.