Obama's rhetoric recycling

Published Feb 19 2008, 07:03 PM by Adam Reilly

What's really remarkable about the ongoing Barack Obama "plagiarism" scandal is this: Obama's campaign had ample reason to think his channeling of Deval Patrick would be an issue--and they kept doing it anyway.

Let's recap. The New York Times Magazine discussed the rhetorical resemblance between Obama and Patrick in April 2007. The Boston Globe picked up the subject a couple weeks later--starting with an example that anticipates, to an eerie degree, what just got Obama into trouble. (Prescient stuff, Scott Helman!)

Then, last month, the Globe broached the subject again. So did the Associated Press (I'm still looking for the link.) And after itemizing seven specific Obama-Patrick parallels, I warned that this striking resemblance could erode the electorate's faith in Obama's authenticity.

But Obama kept right on going--either because he didn't think this issue would blow up, or because he literally couldn't stop.

Which brings us to the question of just how important political consultant David Axelrod is. Because both Patrick and Obama are Axelrod clients, the Clinton camp's plagiarism charge rings false. The real question, I think, is where Axelrod's thoughts and convictions end and Obama's and Patrick's begin.

Or, to put it differently: could Obama not sound like Patrick if he wanted to?

New in the Phoenix: Media vulgarians gone wild!

Correction: Patriot Ledger still on Beacon Hill

2 Comments

Rick in Duxbury said:

"But Obama kept right on going--either because he didn't think this issue would blow up, or because he literally couldn't stop."

Has David Axelrod ever worked for Bill Belichik?

February 19, 2008 8:38 PM
acf said:

The words of Deval Patrick probably should have been credited, but in reality, Patrick paraphrased words spoken some 200 years ago which are pretty much in the public domain today, and Obama then used Patrick's phraseology of those words, so it's a wash. How many times have you seen a politician use Lloyd Bentson's admonition of Dan Quayle "I knew John Kennedy, and you are no John Kennedy", in a speech of their own, either directly, or paraphrased, using names of their own choice in place of Kennedy's name? Once it becomes public domain, it becomes free game.

February 21, 2008 11:44 PM