I don't think Lincoln was a hypocrite, he was a pragmatist. That Lincoln quote is frequently used as "evidence" that Lincoln didn't give a darn about blacks, but that is only possible if you quote it out of context thereby distorting his meaning. The actual quote (omitting the first third of the letter to Greeley) is as follows:
"I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.
Yours,
A. LINCOLN"
Roy Basler, Ed., "The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln," Vol. 5, pp. 388-389 (Rutgers University Press, 1953)
Omitting that final sentence mischaracterizes Lincoln's opinion, which is precisely why Lincoln included it.
Lincoln stated very plainly throughout his career that he didn't approve of one man holding another in bondage, however he knew he could just take office and say "all slaves are free." Such an action at that point would have alienated the loyal border states and likely have been found unconstitutional under the Takings Clause of the Constitution. Lincoln initially preferred to put slavery on the path to extinction by eroding its support by means of preventing its spread into the territories and encouraging states to emancipate on their own. As discussed in a previous thread, after Congress passed its 1st Confiscation Act, in November of 1861 Lincoln tried to get Delaware to adopt a system of gradual, compensated emancipation and later, in his March 1861 address to Congress he requested financial support for any border slave state that would agree to a similar proposal. In fact at the time of his letter to Greeley, Lincoln was already writing and discussing the EP with his cabinet. The EP was part of an evolving policy that culminated with the 13th Amendment. He was well aware that without an amendment banning slavery, the emancipation proclamation would face major legal challenges after the war ended.
The sentence "I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views." says much. I have no idea how much close contact Lincoln had with blacks leading up to his election, but I suspect it was very little as evidenced by his very awkward meeting with black leaders in the fall of 1861. His views, especially on colonization, were very naive, and when shown to him to be unsound he abandoned them. Likewise, compare his evolution on race relations from his comments during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates to his call for black suffrage by 1865. His education, through contact with black leaders and observations of black contributions to the war effort, brought about this evolution.