Words matter - but they're not Obama's

Barack Obama's lofty oratory landed him in trouble yesterday when a particularly memorable speech in Wisconsin turned out to be just a little too memorable - some observers recalled it all too well from the 2006 campaign of Massachussetts Governor Deval Patrick.

After an 'anonymous' rival campaign highlighted the similarities, the section concerned was promptly dissected on YouTube, with the videos leaving little room for doubt. Watch both speeches below.

So how serious a misdemeanour is this? It's not the first time that a presidential candidate has ripped off another politician's words - politics is full of recycled soundbites and it has already been noted that Obama's slogan "Yes, we can" is a translation of "Si, se puede" - the 1972 chant of the United Farm Workers. Joe Biden during his 1988 White House bid got caught plagiarising a speech by Neil Kinnock, then leader of the British Labour Party. The bad news for Obama is that it destroyed Biden's campaign.

The Obama campaign immediately moved to stave off accusations of plagiarism by asking Governor Patrick, a close ally of the Illinois senator, to put in a call to the New York Times, which he duly did. Patrick explained that he had given Obama permission to use his phrases, which he considered a "transcendent argument", and had also assured him it was not necessary to credit him. "Who knows who I am? The point is more important than whose argument it is," he said.

It remains to be seen whether Patrick's intercession will be enough to defuse the row, particularly given that the contentious speech was itself intended to rebutt Hillary Clinton's claim that Obama offers little more than shallow rhetoric. I however would like to suggest to Obama's speechwriters that a meaty policy speech is not only appropriate but a necessity right about now. A really nerdy, technical one packed full of somnolent detail that might bore a rally but will give the policy wonks something to chew over ahead of Texas and Ohio. He is at risk of tipping into inspiration overload and must address Mrs Clinton's attacks once and for all - if he can, that is.

That's my thought on the matter - now, readers, over to you...

Comments

[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.

[Ann Smith]

Hillary Clinton has copied Obama's speeches....her opponet....so is she to say anything about what he says?

[jose m lemus]

Mr obama is just an actor who has manage to master speeches for a show . his promesses are false ,and he is emty and a fake

[Rebekah Boyd-Owens]

Deval Obama

I had a "Together We Can" sign in my western Massachusetts front yard in Nov of 2006. I was part of the grassroots effort to elect Deval Patrick, then candidate for Governor, a campaign that "began as a whisper in Springfield." I was roused by his inspirational words, empowered by a movement that felt like the first in 16 years to actually have a chance to help the good democrats of the Commonwealth win back the Governor's seat.

Crying, and with my young children by my side, I celebrated Deval Patrick's win that November— we had our first black Governor — it was an amazing time!

Yessiree, Deval, like Obama, was and is a regular stem-winder, (in fact, he's an even more powerful speaker than his friend Obama) and since Obama borrowed Deval's chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, as well as the governor's hopeful words, it's no wonder we see and hear, (again and again) echoes of Gov. Deval Patrick's campaign.

What the good readers of other parts of this Earth may not know is that corporate lawyer and political newcomer Deval Patrick, (who self-identifies, like Barrack, as the "skinny kid from Chicago with the funny name" ) who ran a brilliant campaign against insider (then Lt. Gov under Mitt Romney) Kerry Healey, has experienced a whole series of political gaffs and policy-making missteps in his first 13 months on the job.

Since he began last January, he's had to replace the majority of his idealistic cabinet members with a whole slew of more experienced folk who know how to negotiate the Beacon Hill machine and who have a few connections inside the legislature. Right now his big revenue accruing initiative planned to get the schools running again and the people back on their feet is the establishment of state casinos, a move many of us who backed him in 2006 find abhorrent. He found out right quick that, like it or not, he had to work with those guys at the statehouse who had differing opinions in order to make the change he promised we could all make together.

Once this election is over, no matter who's got the presidential role, they too will have to cross party lines to shake hands and make deals with the folk on the other side of the aisle, something Hillary's been doing for years, to try, under the hope-dampening Bush administration, to keep the liberal dream of universal healthcare, better schools, and human rights from being deferred.

Hate to sound like a cynic, but if something looks too good to be true, it may be. While Deval Patrick's heart is certainly in the right place, and his term is far from over, this time, I'm voting for experience.

Rebekah Boyd-Owens
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

[Joann Kujawa]

This is "much ado about nothing." (credit to Shakesphere) Deval Patrick gave Barack Obama permission to use that line because Barack was being attacked in the same way that Deval had been. When you're given permission, it is not stealing. Barack said he should have credited Deval and I'm sure he will next time. It was a very minor blunder. Barack is one of the few people that writes most of his speeches. Most people in public office rely on speech writers.

[Lyric Barnik]

Mrs.Clinton should not forget that she is a democrat as like as Mr.Obama.For her win she can not ignor the greater interest of the party.She should control her way of attack to her opponent.

[Bagman]

I have seen and hear that he was using the same speeches. Please look at the movie Evan Almighty with Steve Carell. He played Senator Baxter and his campaign slogam was also Change, Change the World similar to Mr. Obama. Could he or his campaign copied that slogan to win the heart of the Americans? Please look at the movie and you will see. I am undecided voters and now I kind of see the truth what Mrs. Clinton was saying. GO SEE THE MOVIE EVAN ALMIGHTY>

[Susan]

I'm don't think Senator Obama's borrowing of a few phrases from a friend meets the standard for plagiarism - but I am sure that when he equates his words with the words of these great documents he is guilty of uncontrolled ego.

[Brian Snelson]

Since when is it a crime to recite public domain? Are the words of Jesus simply a slogan? Really, can't we discuss something relevent to the current situation in America?

It is this small-minded approach to America's issues that we are sick and tired of. Don't you understand? This is not about Barack Obama, this is about ownership.

Barack is ours, The People's, and no one owns him but us! Not the special interests, not the lobbys, and no, not even the U.K.

You just try and stop us-the people. This movement you cannot deny. This wave you cannot stem. We are taking back our country and our personal responsibilies.

I laugh at your paultry attempts to thwart the inevitable. Nice try.

[Whatsau]

Ms. Clinton;

Get a life!!! You'er paying to much attention to nonsense. THEY ARE JUST SOUNDBITES!!

[Douglas]

He has been doing just that (see below). This story is a week old, and there have been numerous others. Although the Clinton camp continuously suggest that Obama lacks substance, his website belies this. In fact, his chief criticism at the start of the campaign, in initial debates, is that he was too detailed, and lacked the inspirational flair that wowed the crowds in the 2004 Democratic convention.

[Wayne Pierce]

Obama is the only viable American presidential candidate in over 45 years to express a broad, uplifting vision of what America ought to become. People, especially the young and the disillusioned, are excited by the prospect of a political sea change. If the words used are not unique and original, so what? How lost we would all be if any combination of words, once used, could never be used again. It's the message that matters.

[a don]

This may be a little subtle for Americans but I suspect Barack Obama KNEW he was imitiating Deval Patrick. It's a clever joke.

[Abioye A Oyetunji]

That's the plagiarism claim? A portion from a speech that mostly contains well-known phrases? More importantly, if I write a book and plagiarise, it is wrong. If I write an essay for school and palgiarise, it is wrong. "Plagiarising" someone else's argument doesn't mean very much to me

[afgailGail]

I think the Obama supporters don't get it. Obama is the second underqualified black man running for a high office he's not prepared for and using the identical narrative and rhetoric. His campaign is begining to look like a con job. Some in the media are feeling a bit queasy at how they promoted Obama without checking him out. The White House is not the place to indulge the notion of affirmative action by giving the job to an underquaified black person over the qualified white person for the sake of egalitarianism..