The order of the quotes is identical, which suggests its not just a coincidence. I wonder if it's the same speechwriter thinking he or she was just recycling material for a new and bigger audience.

I also wonder how much trouble this will cause Obama. The media like to pile on stuff like this.

It'll probably have everything to do with how soon, and in how much explicit detail, the campaign deals with it.

Will this cut it?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/18/obama.patrick/

It's difficult when delivering a speech to footnote every source of information. I'm more upset with a follow-up quote from Obama:

"I really don't think this is too big of a deal," he said. He said he's noticed Clinton using his phrases sometimes, like "it's time to turn the page"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080218/ap_on_el_pr/obama_borrowed_lines

HIS phrases? Al Gore invented the Intranet, and now Obama coined a phrase that Bob Seger, for one, sang 30 years ago.

Politicians have such big egos.

I think that does cut it. If the guy you've plagiarized calls it "riffing off one another," who else can complain? If he had complained, it would be another matter, though.

Apparently Obama did reference Patrick's use of this riff when using it earlier. He doesn't need to keep doing this VERBALLY but whenever his staff gives out TEXT, they should be sure to reference Patrick.

Who knows what the press fascination with this teapot tempest will amount to? But for us speechwriters it's a reminder to do two things. One, if we even THINK we're using re-tread material, we need to use phrases like: "You've heard it before, and I'll say it again" or "As a good friend of mine has often said," and THEN in the written text, be sure to give a footnote.

I was a librarian before I was a speechwriter, and I've often been chided for being TOO CAREFUL with citations, but guess what -- you can never be too careful!

Apparently Obama did reference Patrick's use of this riff when using it earlier. He doesn't need to keep doing this VERBALLY but whenever his staff gives out TEXT, they should be sure to reference Patrick.

Who knows what the press fascination with this teapot tempest will amount to? But for us speechwriters it's a reminder to do two things. One, if we even THINK we're using re-tread material, we need to use phrases like: "You've heard it before, and I'll say it again" or "As a good friend of mine has often said," and THEN in the written text, be sure to give a footnote.

I was a librarian before I was a speechwriter, and I've often been chided for being TOO CAREFUL with citations, but guess what -- you can never be too careful!

When I heard about this over the weekend, my first thought was "Here we go!" and sure enough, the loudest yelling I came across was out of Hillary's camp. So much for "We are friends, now and we'll be friends after this campaign" (paraphrasing)

Should Obama have sourced the quotes? Probably. Does this incident make him a liar, a thief or a dishonest man? Give me a break! With the amount of speaking these people do, there is no way in hell they could personally source or write everything they say. While a candidate is of course ultimately responsible for what comes out of his mouth, the very fact that something so minor in the scheme of things is turning into an issue tells me that Obama is starting to get enough traction with his messages to worry the "old school" faction.

Another factor here is clearly the desperate news media. MSNBC, as far as I can tell, is going 24/7 on this stuff, and so they need some kind of big exciting new narrative every day.

This "plagiarism" was yesterday.

Michelle Obama's unfortunately chosen remark that for the first time in her life she's proud of her country--try to imagine someone stupid enough to MEAN to say such a thing--is today's.

All this stuff will be forgotten--literally, FORGOTTEN, by each of us--by, like, noon on Friday.

David - you're right about the ravening beast that is the info-tainment "news" media (the quotes are intentional and represent my utter contempt for the way they're run nowadays by the greedy money people rather than the reporters).

This is yet another reminder of why it is so hard to convince many of the honourable qualified people who could be excellent public servants to even consider that life. Seriously, what kind of super-dedicated citizen (or crazy person!) willingly puts themself in the cross-hairs of the current media machine, special intrest group structure, and other political people/groups, knowing that every dumb thing they ever did back to grammar school now becomes fair game. It's idiotic!

Public servants should be held to account for their qualifications to govern, not for whether they ever smoked pot in college, or any other stupid thing that doesn't directly relate to their abiility to run the whatever office. The rest of this nonsense is smoke and mirrors and panders to the very worst qualities of humanity - ignorance, pettiness, jealousy and small-mindedness. Is it any wonder so many people feel like there's no point in voting??