Nasty Clinton-Obama Fight Descends To "Plagiarism" Accusations

The two Democratic presidential campaigns traded accusations on Monday that each candidate had lifted language from other politicians, with a Clinton official going so far as to accuse Sen. Barack Obama of plagiarism.

The heated rhetoric came after segments of speeches from Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Devall Patrick were posted back-to-back on YouTube by a "rival campaign." In the clips, both men use nearly identical language when discussing the power of words.

Obama: "Don't tell me words don't matter. 'I have a dream' -- just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' -- just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' -- just words? Just speeches?"

Patrick: "'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' -- just words? Just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' -- just words? 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' Just words? 'I have a dream' -- just words?"

The Obama campaign denied anything nefarious, noting that the two men are friends and political supporters of each other and that the line was, in fact, ad-libbed.

The Clinton camp, however, jumped right on the issue arguing that the use of someone else's language was telling for a candidate who leans so heavily on his oratory. The debate - aided, in part, by a relatively slow news day - culminated in dueling conference calls at 11 am on Monday morning.

"The issue whether or not there is approval is immaterial. The public did not know that the words had come from Gov. Patrick," said Clinton's spokesperson Howard Wolfson. We need a president, added Massachussetts Rep. Jim McGovern who is "not just someone who can copy someone's homework."

Moments later, Wolfson, in a separate interview with Politico, described Obama use of Patrick's earlier speech as "plagiarism."

In response to the charges, the Obama camp took a two-prong approach: downplaying the political significance of the language lifting and making the case that Sen. Hillary Clinton, herself, had borrowed lines from Obama.

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"Throughout our history there have been moments where leaders have inspired the country through words," said campaign manager David Plouffe on a conference call with reporters. "We think at the end of the day this is another effort by the Clinton campaign to create distractions." This is, he added, "a curious charge from Sen. Clinton who repeatedly throughout this campaign has used words that Sen. Obama has used."

As evidence, Bill Burton, Obama's press secretary, sent out several memos in which Clinton uttered such Obama catchphrases as: "Yes We Can," and "Fired Up And Ready To Go."

Throughout the back-and-forth a secondary debate raged as to exactly how important the whole episode was.

On one hand, Peter S. Canellos wrote in the Boston Globe, the use of lofty rhetoric - either lifted or original - can create rousing expectations that suffocate a politician.

"Except that when it comes to the actual substance of issues, there's no special agenda attached to the politics of hope. Both Patrick in 2006 and Obama this year have websites full of positions on the issues, but they're not easily distinguishable from those of other Democrats. The issues tend to get lost in the language of hope, perhaps because they sound and feel routine, and don't strike an inspirational chord."

On the other, as Obama noted in a press conference later on Monday, workers in Ohio couldn't care less about one segment in a lengthy speech.

"[Patrick] has occasionally used lines of mine. I have occasionally used some words of his. I know Sen. Clinton has used words of mind as well. I don't think that is something that workers here are concerned about." Obama added that he should have credited Patrick, but said in the end, "I really don't think this is too big of a deal."

Comments

[snruB]

Puh-leeze

Doesn't Deval work with thew Obama campaign? He's allowed to give him lines to use against generic arguments used by the Clinton campaign

[venicesurfer]

he's allowed to give him lines? theres a difference between being given lines and taking lines and not giving credit to where you got it from.

even obama said he should have given him credit.

"I'm sure I should have" given credit to Patrick. - O

[SeanGardner]

TIME Magazine's Mark Halperin has a document that the Obama campaign put out, that shows the speech lines that Clinton has repeatedly borrowered from Obama.

Check it out here: http://thepage.time.com/obama-release-on-clintons-languge/

So the Clintonites on this thread have no argument after this. Like I wrote earlier, this is a non-story.

Whenever Hillary attacks Obama on something, it comes out that the Clintons have no credibility on the very thing they're kneecapping him with.

And as the link above shows, CAMP CLINTON has no credibility on the charge of "plagiarism". Let's see them worm their way out of this one.

Obama used the words of a friend, Deval Patrick, who has even used some of Obama's lines in his speeches. But the TIME Magazine link above shows that Hillary went farther than Barack, and actually ripped off the lines of her competitor.

[martinchill]

nice.

[westview]

Oh I get it, he is learning on the job. These are the "little" mistakes that will make big ads for the republicans later. If he wins the primaries then the big mistakes he makes learning the job, if he can win the office, in the White House will be horrific. They will change our lives for the worse when the watered down compromises he makes to play nice in the sandbox land on his desk. I guess he will say then like he did after several debates, "I just wasn't up on all the tricks in Washington­." If he ever gets to the White House he will be another J. Carter. His Hallmarks will be lots of mistakes, plenty of compromise, many losses, no successes, wimpy presidency. The republicans will have decades afterwards in the White House. Think about it.

[ywinfield]

Hey, SeanGardne­r...You SHOULD KNOW THAT OBAMA BLATANTLY PLAGAIRIZED Hillary's Clinton's Economic Policy AND PASSED IT OFF AS HIS OWN:


Check out what commentators on Bloomber TV had to say about Senator Obama's economic plan:

February 13, 2008:

On Bloomberg TV's "Money & Politics" program tonight McCain economic adviser Kevin Hassett lays into Barack Obama's economic plan,unveiled today at a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin:

"The fact is that Obama's plan today is the most shameless piece of potential plagiarism that I have ever seen. He basically took Clinton's words and Clinton's policies and called them his own. If I were a professor I'd give him an F and try to get him kicked out of school for something this terrible..­.

If I were on the Clinton team, I'd be prepping memos....B­ecause I remember Mrs. Clinton saying shared prosperity and I remember the bill that she introduced in August for infrastructure.

The fact is these are things Obama has taken as his own without crediting the source of the ideas which was Mrs. Clinton."

Hmmm. How much of this is general election spin? Here's Obama's full plan. Here is Clinton's. Compare for yourself.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/02/must_see_tv.html


NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY HILLARY CLINTON SHOULD BE THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE IN THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION???
OBAMA CAN’T EVEN FORMULATE HIS OWN ECONOMIC PLAN!!!


IN ALL HONESTY, I DON’T THINK THAT SENATOR OBAMA HAS HAD AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT DURING HIS ENTIRE POLITICAL CAREER!!!

Don’t believe the “hype” or the numbers that have been published by the Gallup & USA Today polls – McCain will SLAUGHTER Obama in the general election in November. So, PLEASE SERIUOSLY INVESTIGATE OBAMA’s qualifications for yourselves, and rethink your decision to support someone who clearly lacks the EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM that our next president MUST POSSESS – “ON Day 1”.

Yvette

[Georgee]

Well, it looks like Obama thought it's okay to engage in knowledge sharing with Patrick. What he did not know was that his words are scrutinized and disected by the Clinton campain. True, he should have been more careful. I think he learned it now. So, it's the end of the story for that matter.

What concerns me is the emerging swiftboating tendency by the Clinton campaign. It looks as though someone in the campaign took a class from Carl Rove. Recall the rule #1 attack the known strength of the enemy. Obama is a known orator, so if Clinton campaign can discredit him for his speech, they can destroy this young and promising politician.

I pray to God that Clintons are not the kind of the people who would do ANYTHING to win. I would like to believe Hilary run for the office for our common good, not just because she wanted to keep the power within the family or even because she wanted to break the highest glass ceiling as a woman.

[martinchill]

"I pray to God that Clintons are not the kind of the people who would do ANYTHING to win"

like sending a stooge to 'heckle' bill at rallies, just to make obama supporters seem more 'cultish'?

twice in one week?

wouldn't put it past them. then again, not surprised that someone would heckle bill, either.

[veracal]

Even if the man was an Obama plant why didn't Bill Clinton just ignore him? Does he really think he's helping his wife when he goes into his in-your-face finger wagging routine? Is Bill Clinton that easily manipulated?

[Scytherius]

They act JUST like the Repugs. Once again, I really wonder does it make any difference anymore who we get in office.

[AvgPseudoIntellectual]

Lets see, how many billions of dollars and thousands of lives have we lost in Iraq? Do you really think Gore would have done that?

If you fall prey to the media hype over the little stuff - which, btw, the Clinton camp loves to exploit - then you are allowing yourself to be distracted from the reality of law. The bills that are introduced, debated and either passed or rejected, along with the many other actions of our leaders in government, do hold sway over our lives in very significant ways. Do not stop focusing on these truths simply because the media fixates on minutiae.

[Independent007]

And that is the rest of the story.
The media loves this stuff, and although it will blow over, look to see Clinton attack attack and attack Obama with more negative ads and statements. Since Hillary has "plagiarized" from Obama, where will that put her?
Obama will respond and belittle Hillary as the desperate candidate that she is.
Go for it Clinton campaign, turn more voters off. Especially those in Ohio and Texas.
Obama will sweep the voters in those two states and the Hillary campaign will lose them, and the American people.