One of These Things Is Just Like the Other


1199471471One minute, Sen. Barack Obama was cruising along, enjoying all the stories about his momentum in the race for the Democratic nomination. The next, he gives a speech that sounds a lot like one his buddy delivered, and boom — the coverage becomes very different.

Sure looks like Obama lifted/borrowed/appropriated a few key notes from Gov. Deval Patrick’s “Best of the Campaign Trail, 2006” album. Which is hardly surprising, if you ask us.

The bigger question is: Why the hell is the media so shocked?

In case you missed it, Obama delivered a speech in Wisconsin over the weekend that has the Hillary Clinton campaign crying “plagiarism.” Here’s what he 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?”

Pretty catchy. Except Patrick used the same remarks the day before the gubernatorial election in 2006:

“‘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?”

So is it plagiarism, as Clinton alleges, or just a nod to some finely crafted language? The answer is, who cares? Politicians steal each other’s material all the time. Clinton, in fact, has been known to take language from her husband and Obama. Meanwhile, Obama and Patrick have been trading stuff back and forth for years. Patrick’s familiar “Together We Can” mantra was borrowed from Obama’s powerful “Yes We Can” refrain from the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Anyone who’s just now waking up to the fact that Obama and Patrick are eerily similar politicians is way late to the party. We told you a long time ago that the two BFFs are clearly using the same playbook. And we weren’t the only locals to notice — Adam Reilly wrote something similar for the Phoenix.

What’s that you say? Obama talks like Patrick? Patrick cut his hair like Obama? Get out!

Next we’ll read about how the bosom buddies are really into Change and Hope. And, hey, did you know they both went to Harvard? Crazy.