A Fight Over Attribution
February 18th, 2008
The latest in the Clinton v. Obama saga is a battle over plagarism. Clinton aide Howard Wolfson noted in a conference call claimed that the Senator had taken rhetoric from Obama supporter Gov. Deval Patrick without attribution. A comparison clip of the rhetoric is making its way through YouTube:
Patrick issued a statement to the New York Times defending Obama (noted on CNN):
“Senator Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language,” Patrick said in the statement. “The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Senator Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did.”
Patrick also talked to other media outlets, check out The Swamp for more.
Meanwhile Obama himself recognized during a press conference that he should have given credit to Gov. Patrick and also leveled a charge against Clinton saying the NY Senator often takes lines from him. (Update: The Obama camp has released the following list of lifted lines.
In 1988 a similar incident occurred with Senator Joe Biden who plagiarized a speech by British Labour Party Leader Neil Kinnock. Biden had correctly attributed the speech, which he delivered with minor changes, on many occasions but video existed and was distributed to reporters by his rival Michael Dukakis’ campaign. The issues ended Biden’s campaign for the presidency.
Posted in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton | 19 Comments »
February 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
All of the campaigners have been borrowing from each other this election.
It’s sad to see people grasp for straws.
I would like Sen. Clinton to verbally say she has never used lines or quotes from another politician or even her husband with out giving credit.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
As far as borrowing speeches goes, both Obama and Patrick stole it from President Theodore Roosevelt.
“We have nothing to fear…but fear itself.”
http://mullentown.com/we-have-nothing-to-fear/
February 18th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Please! Anyone who has college should know plagarism is a big deal. Everyone needs to quit brushing everything under the rug for Obama. You are not doing him a favor in the long run. Obama needs to take responsibility for his actions. If he is in the White House small errors could be very costly. Now I don’t believe him or his “friend.” CNN I’ve never heard such bull re plagarism. It is serious even if only one time. Stop making excuses that only makes it look worse.
thank you
February 18th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Obama is running for President not a pulitzer. His speeches are a way of communicating policy ideas on how to lead a nation and he does not financially benefit from this. Our Nation’s leaders from have always looked to their peers and those who came before them to help define their ideas. There is no monopoly on good policy or copyrights on how to run a government. It is sad that a politician cannot borrow an influence or a paragraph from a peer and adopt it as a policy position. I fail to see the problem. To me, this is just a case of the gotchas.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
This is really pitiful and petty of the Clinton campaign to suggest OBAMA has committed plagarism. Hilliary herself have restated and COPIED wordS that OBAMA has spoken. To be specific (Yes We Will) where did that come from? It came from OBAMA. After OBAMA started speaking about CHANGE, Hilliary started talking about change. Every strategy OBAMA has implemented and used throughout his campaign, Hilliary has tried desperately to COPY him. Hilliary is a COPY CAT, not Obama. Hilliary and her campaign are in trouble and they are desperate and its very sad, soooo sad to see her gravel and mislead people like this. ABSOLUTELY PITYFUL!!!!
February 18th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
My 11 year old quips: “Is he giving credit to Bob The Builder for his campaign tagline – Yes We Can?”.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Hillary says Yes We Can and Fired Up Ready To Go. Oh well she did flunk the bar exam. Not so smart.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:50 am
This allegation from Clinton is TOTAL GARBAGE. A Boston Globe article already covered the fact that Deval Patrick and Barack Obama riff on each others’ rhetoric LAST SPRING:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/16/patrick_obama_campaigns_share_language_of_hope/
February 19th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Obama doesn’t have a original thought in his head. If Hillary Clinton had done this, it would be front page news and they would be raking her over the coals on FOX, CNN, and MSNBC. But when Obama does it they sweep it under the rug. The news media is pitiful. It’s not even news anymore, it’s tabloid news. How I wish for the days when the media just gave the facts and let the American people make up their own minds. It’s sad times in this country when the media decides who the next president will be instead of letting the people decide.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:59 am
For years we have heard about the “Clinton campaign machine.” Beware, we were told, they can be tough, even ruthless.
Is this Hillary’s best shot?
Obama has alot of angles to attack, but Hillary is either missing them or making very weak attempts to paint the real Obama. Some of them can be read at my sight in the “Obama Primer 2008.”
This was Hillary’s campaign to lose and she is doing it quite well. She has waited for 8 years for this opportnity and yet comes out with this very weak, passive, reactive campaign strategy.
Giuliani was criticized for his Custer’s last stand type campaign, rightfully so, and Hillary will be kicking herself all the way back to her Senate seat when she assesses the incompetence of her own campaign.
-50centsaday.net
February 19th, 2008 at 8:35 am
People need to do their homework. Hillary has copied Barack Obama a number of times throughout her campaign. This issue is not about plagiarism its about The Clinton’s desperation. Desperation that has Hillary lending her own campaign 5 million this week. Desperation that has Billy arguing with a heckler out of frustration yesterday. Desperation that has Hillary attacking Barack with the statement that he is all talk. Nonsense!
Can you feel the Clinton campaign unraveling? I can and it feels good.
Today will be what 10 in a row for Barack? 11? Who’s counting?
February 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
After videos of Hillary stealing speech lines from both Obama and John Edwards yesterday on News headlines I believe it will have no effect…
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4308238
May even hurt her more for during the same and calling someone else out.
February 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
HILLARY is full of B.S. she needs to stop these ridiculous attacks because in the end its only going to hurt her. I have witnessed many speeches were hiliary clearly used OBAMA phrases. In addition did anyone watch CNN last night????? well Bay Buchanan nicley pointed out pointed out that hillarys sologan “SOLUTION FOR AMERICA” was copy of her brother Pat Buchanan sologan “AMERICA of SOLUTION” and did anyone see that HILARY made a speech using JOHN EDWARDS words in a speech he made in Louisana? Come on hillary come on her campaine and come on anybody that is actually buying into this B.S.!!!! I swear she looks more desperate everyday!!!!!! I frankly hopes he sweeps wisconsin and hawaii!!! HILLARY and HER CAMPAIGN PLEASE ACCEPT THE FACT THAT U DONT HAVE CHARISMA AND THAT U DONT INSPIRE THE VAST MAJORITY OF THIS COUNTRY!!! WE WANT CHANGE!!!OBAMA 08 and the funny thing is that i was actually starting to become a hillary supporter!!!!
February 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-wolfson-plagiarism-at_b_87209.html
“It’s a shame that (again, as long as the gloves are off and there has to be this ridiculous “plagiarism” debate) she lifted the “I see an America” anaphora from other politicians, including then-Governor Jimmy Carter. June, 1976″
Obama’s campaign needs to point out that Clinton borrowed from several people without attribution in her speech at that same dinner, Carter, Howard Dean, etc. Is she saying it’s okay for her to recycle other people’s stuff without their permission, but it’s not okay for Obama to borrow a response from his friend with his friend’s full and active permission and encouragemet ?
February 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
plagiarism is the “unauthorized” use of another’s material. apparently neither the clinton campaign nor lou dobbs knows what the word means. besides, most of the words deval and obama used were well-known quotes that almost anyone would readily recognize. is this the kind of thinking we can look forward to if clinton is elected. no thanks. pitiful and desperate. pure bunk.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Authorized or not authorized, Obama used, borrowed, stole, whatever, words and context as if they were his own. If this is not plagarism, at very least is DISHONEST!! AND SHAMEFUL.
I do not see him being fit for office in more ways than one.
gpv
February 19th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Hillary lifted “si se puede” directly from Hugo Chavez and didn’t attribute him!
FDR lifted the words for his ‘fear’ line from Thoreau who lifted it from the Duke of Wellington who lifted it from Francis Bacon who lifted it from Michel de Montaigne! (http://grammar.about.com/b/2008/02/19/borrowed-rhetoric-on-the-campaign-trail.htm?referer=sphere_related_content)
This is a case of a friend allowing the usage of words, which is not plagarism.
Anyone here who thinks that this usage somehow makes Obama “unfit” is also implying that Hillary is also “unfit”, she has done many of the same things. Aside from the similar phrases lifted from the Obama campaign, look at her “I see an America” speech that borrows heavily without attribution, as well as others.
Everyone also forgets that all these candidates use speechwriters to begin with. Patrick got those words from his writer without attribution as well.
Get real. Even if this was turned around, if it was Obama slamming Hillary for this, it would smack of complete childish desperation.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
This is a highly legitimate concern. If anything, it is disturbing that some pundits have been calling the plagiarism “no big deal.” Yet, Obama has been relying on words, on the power of language, on emotionally charged language dating all the way back from Jefferson through Martin Luther Kind Jr. to Jesse Jackson and to Deval Patrick, who is conveniently a friend and an ardent supporter who naturally alleges that Obama had his consent. He has been lifting choice phrases for all his speeches, and that has been effective for him. But, this latest rather hefty chunk of lifted verbatim is almost a lie. Couldn’t he have simply rewritten the text to make it more his own? He is not running on experience, nor or substance, but on the power of his words. If his words are not his own, what does he have left. His Audacity of Hope, as it turns out, was actually a collaboration. How much writing in his second book did he actually contribute? We need a candidate who can be trusted, not one who takes extreme shortcuts.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I have been saying this for a long time, Obama’s authenticity is highly questionable. It is a big of an ugly irony that while Obama attests that his campaign is not just about lofty rhetoric, he is yet using the same lofty rhetoric from another politician. Barack does not write his own speeches, he performs them. He performs the speeches quite well, well enough to pack in the crowds, but he does not write anything he says. Usually, his main speech writer (who is incidientally is the young 26 year old white man Jon Favreau) often lifts various passages the straight out of the speeches spoken during the 60’s civil rights era. If that is all Obama has going for him, just a performance, how can we truly expect him to bring about change?