Playing on the evolution theme of the day, Kushner said his own political views had evolved over the last 20 years to the point that he now believed social justice in the U.S. could possibly be achieved peacefully through democratic means.
This led to a discussion of his work on the Lincoln film where he let loose a few newsy tidbits:
* The film wrapped in December and will be released this November.
* Kushner spent six years writing it, he says, and does not regret a minute of it.
* He was script doctoring one version while watching the election returns in 2008.
* The most interesting element to him historically was Lincoln's relationships with the Radical Republicans.
* He thinks Lincoln on the level of "genius" with Mozart and Shakespeare and suggests this is a higher level than President's Obama's level.
These notes are cribbed from listening to Democracy Now on the radio this morning; they have audio and video and have isolated the Lincoln bits here.
I would add this observation: if the film's emphasis is on the "evolution" of Lincoln-Radical relations, then the "Team of Rivals" focus is lost and D.K. Goodwin's association with this project has been marginalized. This is underscored by Kushner's previous comments about the amount of research he had to do himself to write this script.
