Barack and Deval's Plagiarism Seesaw

It isn't news until it hits the New York Times. This morning, I read Barack Obama is a plagiarist -- ripping off Deval Patrick, of all people!

I found it amusing: not because of the accusation, but because of a role reversal in who was plagiarizing who.

My perspective on this is a little different.

You see, I was among the first batch of interns for Gov. Patrick back in spring of 2005, when his campaign was just getting on its feet in an abandoned refugees museum converted into a campaign office on Boston's Milk Street. Incredibly little was known about Patrick, who had never run for elected office, and even less was expected of his campaign, but I had friends there and they believed in him, so I gave it a go.

He was going up against Tom Reilly, then a successful two-term state attorney general, who had spent years building up his political chits in Massachusetts Democratic politics, along with a formidable campaign warchest. His headquarters sat in a suite with floor-to-ceiling windows across the street from Government Center: Boston City Hall, the seat of power and all that jazz.

It was absolutely clear that it was Reilly's time to go for "the gold," to pilfer from Gov. Romney, who was having one of his famous debates with himself over whether he'd run again in 2006. I liked it when Patrick would say on the stump, "I'm not running because it's my turn." It was a clear dig at Reilly and the regular Democratic organization that hadn't elected a Democrat since Dukakis.

The thing is, Patrick's words started to get notice -- especially when he backed them up with an impressive fundraising haul at the end of his first quarter as a candidate. The more he inspired people to join his campaign, the more his opponents knew they had to stop him.

So what did they go after first? Naturally, his words.

A prominent local columnist hit Deval in the Boston Globe for calling out "Yes We Can" in his speech to the 2005 Massachusetts Democratic Convention, dubbing it "a theme lifted straight from Barack Obama" and needled him for "borrowed rhetoric." This was either before or after the Herald mocked him for the same thing.

'This guy's no Barack Obama,' people were supposed to think.

It was all ridiculous and trivial, and it never really stuck. But what really makes me scoff is that the Clinton campaign is trying to assert that it is Obama who is now the pretender.

This wasn't their first opportunity. I noted a couple of coincidences in an oh-how-the-tables-have-turned post at Political Insider (another place where I interned) a while back.

But the point of my item wasn't that of an accusing finger at Obama the Plagiarist. It was merely for political junkies who pay inordinately close attention to who advises which candidate and the language and framing that comes out of their mouth. And we are the geeks with whom this kind of manufactured scandal should die.

If you want to be high-minded about it, you could say looking at what survives one campaign to go on to the next is a study of what rhetoric works and what rhetoric doesn't.

Clearly, Patrick's worked, and Obama's seems to be doing the same. Otherwise they wouldn't be going after it in so many different ways.

In fact, I'd like to put Hillary Clinton's 2008 attacks on Obama's rhetoric next to that of Patrick's 2006 Republican opponent, Kerry Healey.

Might find some "plagiarism" there, too.

Read more news and blog posts on accusations of plagiarism against Obama

Comments

[DebbieB]

Thank-you for pointing out the fact that Hillary... has been parroting former MA Lt. Governor Kerry Healy. (For the non-Mass folks.)

The Clinton camp has obviously done some "research". Maybe they have their interns summarizing old Howie Carr columns to come up with ideas? lol.

(Another Devalunteer)

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

At least this provided an interesting, different POV on this non-issue.
I do have one question to ask Mr. Bohrer. That is, are you happy with Deval Patrick's performance now that he's in office? Is he the change candidate you hoped he'd be?
thanks.

[Sprinkles35]

First comes denial: "He won't win. She has 100% name recognition and Bill on her side."

Then anger: "Who is this upstart? Two years in the Senate and he thinks it's his turn?"

Then bargaining: "Clinton/Obama '08!" (DBI is still in this stage)

Then depression: "If only the media weren't so sexist. They think Obama walks on water."

Finally, acceptance.

[barackoblogger]

Obama campaign fires back!

Here's a list of Hillary Clinton's copying Obama's language:

http://thepage.time.com/obama-release-on-clintons-languge/

[ProgressiveNotLiberal]

If Hillary wasn't such a loser, this wouldn't be a story.

[Veeve]

Hear! Hear! I'm from MA and I volunteered for the Patrick campaign. I was waiting for someone to point out that Shillary lifted her attack on rhetoric word for word from Kerry Healy. Lol!

[sockman]

Looks like black on black crime to me. He should credit the brother.

[nepat]

The anti-cultist, level-headed, rational Clinton supporters are very much enjoying the "takedown" of Obama. My comment for them is: folks, this is your future on Hillary Clinton. Is this really where you want to be heading?

[Turnow]

Congratulations Mr. Bohrer.

You are the first commentator to point out that the Clinton campaign's "only words" attack on Obama was lifted from Patrick's republican opponent.

Nice work.

[classof77]

The point about Obama's plagiarism isn't that Patrick doesn't care that he did it, nor is it that politicians do it all the time. The point is that in not correcting the perception of his audience that the words and ideas are his own, Obama is indeed perpetrating a deception upon them.

Bohrer completely misses that point, but it's why plagiarism is a serious moral infraction. Serious enough to get college students expelled or derail political aspirations (ask Joe Biden). The deception of plagiarism is not some benign foible that can be tossed off with an irresponsible "well, everyone does it so it's OK."

Obama, like all politicians, is capable of dissembling. Like when he described his 17-year association with Antoin Rezko as "five hours of work." Like when he decries lobbyist funding, but takes money from the lobbyists' lawyers and corporate clients. Like when he pledges to accept public funding in the general election, then backpedals when he realizes how much more profitable his own persona is. Like when he protests that superdelegates should vote as their constituencies do, then it's revealed that he's spent $700,000 over the past two years buying them.

Hillary Clinton is not perfect either, obviously. But her core qualities of intelligence, toughness, grasp of policy, and knowledge of how Washington works are not attributes she could possibly have "borrowed" from someone else.

Obama is a fine politician. But he IS a politician. The irony is that it's his lifted words about hope and change that have been so singularly responsible for attracting masses of supporters to his campaign.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

I don't want a President who 'knows how Washington works', I want a President who will CHANGE the way Washington works. Hillary would not be that kind of President.

[BlackJAC]

You're aware that no politician writes their own speeches, right? I actually know one of Bush's former speechwriters, and I actively wonder if he had to render the big words "foe-net-ick-lee."

[KaAp]

If you would have watched Keith Olbermann last night he did a fairly good job of explaining why it was not plagiarism ... aside from the fact that many of the quotes he used were public domain aside from the fact he had previously credited Gov. Patrick and aside from the fact that he had Patrick's permission to use this and Patrick came out to defend him it cannot be plagiarism ... I teach at a university and I know what plagiarism is ... sometimes the test is intentionality to deceive ... since he had Patrick's permission that is not the case, another point would be lack of citation in written work but it is not the case here ...

I would contest you because Obama does have tremendous intelligence compassion grasp of policy and for the first time in my 52 years of existence I have found someone whose qualities as a leader I find admirable ...

I do not like Hillary Clinton she is a cynical divisive politician who will do anything and everything to get elected even besmirch the name of an opponent for the crime of daring to run on her coronation ball

[carpaov]

Excuse me, but even Obama admits he should have done it differently. Let's just admit it. The guy's not a saint. The Hillary campaign has not accused anyone. Just reporting the facts.
go Hillary!!

[elkabong]

Those who want to kill genuine, valuable inspiration have nothing Obama doesn't with which to replace it.

I say genuine (no matter who writes the speeches) because Obama is only responsible for delivering the message, and not all listeners are inspired but most are, genuinely.

I say valuable because if any of the candidates hopes to bring about transformational change he/she had better be good at getting the electorate to take action.

I'm sorry, but Hillary's "give me your tired, your poor, your troubles and your woes, and I'll take care of it.", top-down, governing philosophy might move things incrementally but America's prognosis calls for something much more intensive

Maybe Obama won't be able to get it done but he'll sure be able to mobilize a lot of help in the process. That's inspirational. And the only hope IMO.

[freda]

Deval Patrick .hmmmm the name sounds familiar .Is'nt he the guy who spent a small fortune on drapes and only apoligized when found out .So much for change!

[CroneWoman]

Obama was quoting Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, NOT the Governor of Massachusetts. The words he quoted are in the public domain; it is not plagarism to quote them.

Clinton timed her dirty trick. I used to think it would be better if Obama won, but that OK if she won. Now I feel only disgust for her. She may be better than McCain in the long run. But she will not get my loyalty or support of any kind.

[kpart]

MR. Obama, Accept that you "lifted" the sentences from the speech and don't try to be wishy washy that "lifting" is not a big deal.

[johnhummel]

Let's look at what he lifted then. Here's what Obama said:

"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?"

OK - let's remove the public domain quotes.

"Don't tell me words don't matter. -- just words? -- just words? Just speeches?"

Wow - yeah, I can see where he *totally* lifted the other guy's speech. I mean - dang, he must have said "just words" twice.

[Turnow]

You obviously are unaware of the fact that Obama's chief strategist, David Avelrod, and chief speech writer, Jon Favreau, both worked also on the Patrick campaign.

You also apparently haven't read what Patrick has had to say on the subject.