Obama: I don't compare myself to Lincoln

The success of Steven Spielberg's film on Abraham Lincoln has inspired a new parlor game amid Washington's latest budget battle.

What would Lincoln do? What lessons can we learn from him?

President Obama, however, isn't playing.

When NBC's David Gregory asked Obama whether the fiscal cliff mess gives him a "Lincoln moment," Obama said: "Well, no.

"Look, A, I never compare myself to Lincoln," Obama said during his Meet the Press interview this past weekend. "And, B, obviously the magnitude of the issues are quite different from the Civil War and slavery."

Obama said that, in his reading of history, democracy has "always been messy," and the United States is "a big, diverse country that is constantly sort of arguing about all kinds of stuff. But eventually we do the right thing."

After forecasting a resolution to the fiscal cliff impasse, Obama added:

"So one way or another, we'll get through this. Do I wish that things were more orderly in Washington and rational and people listened to the best arguments and compromised and operated in a more thoughtful and organized fashion? Absolutely. But when you look at history that's been the exception rather than the norm."