Teri B.
Member
- Feb 15, 2008
- 86
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Now I've really heard it all. I got a heartfelt lecture from someone I respect, trying to bring me over to the Obama side, about how he writes all his own speeches.
Similar Obama, Patrick speeches scrutinized
From Josh Levs
CNN
(CNN) -- Similarities between the words of Sen. Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick have raised eyebrows and attracted traffic on YouTube.
A central passage in a speech Obama gave Saturday -- aimed at convincing voters that his campaign is not just about lofty rhetoric -- is adapted from one that Patrick used in his 2006 campaign, the Obama campaign said when asked about it.
The controversy is lost on the Massachusetts governor, who endorsed Obama.
Obama's campaign had Patrick call the New York Times over the weekend and issue a statement.
"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."
The Obama campaign also confirmed comments chief strategist David Axelrod -- an adviser on Obama's Senate campaign and Patrick's gubernatorial run -- made to the New York Times about the speeches.
"They often riff off one another. They share a world view," Axelrod told the Times about Obama and Patrick. "Both of them are effective speakers whose words tend to get requoted and arguments tend to be embraced widely."
Responding to attacks from Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton that he offers words while she offers action, Obama has been arguing that words matter.
Saturday night at a gala for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Obama said to frequent applause, "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, just speeches!"
In 2006, Patrick, fending off attacks from his rival Kerry Healey, told a crowd, "Her dismissive point, and I hear it a lot from her staff, is all I have to offer is words. Just words. '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."
An Obama campaign spokesman said Monday the campaign was "obviously not traumatized" by the discovery of the similarities, "which is why we're not putting out any official statement."
Clinton argues that while Obama provides rousing speeches, she has the stronger grasp of the issues and the knowledge of how to use the presidency to start making changes from "day one."
Speaking last week at a General Motors plant in Ohio, she said, "There's a big difference between us - speeches versus solutions, talk versus action. You know, some people may think words are change. But you and I know better. Words are cheap. I know it takes work."