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Clinton campaign accuses Obama of borrowing Milwaukee speech
Latest broadside comes amid concerted effort to claw back Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:53 February 20, 2008
Washington: Hillary Clinton's camp on Monday accused Barack Obama of plagiarising portions of a recent speech and continued to question his vows to reform the campaign finance system as Clinton sought to drive home the idea that her Democratic rival's presidential bid is built on style more than substance.
The two-pronged attack came as Clinton attempted to slow Obama's momentum in yesterday's contests in Wisconsin, which neighbours his home state of Illinois, and Hawaii, where he was born.
The race in Wisconsin, where Clinton dug in over the weekend in an effort to break a string of eight straight primary and caucus defeats, has turned increasingly negative. Just days earlier, Clinton aides accused Obama of breaking his pledge to accept public financing in place of private donations during the general election. Obama's aides say he did not make a firm commitment to accept public financing if he wins the nomination.
Key Clinton supporters accuse Obama of "lifting" a passage of the rousing speech he delivered to a party gathering in Milwaukee on Saturday night from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a longtime friend and supporter. The two passages, captured on side-by-side YouTube videos and distributed to reporters by the Clinton campaign, show Obama repeating, almost verbatim, lines from a speech Patrick gave two years earlier.
Fundamental problems
"If you're asking an electorate to judge you on your promises and you break them, and on your rhetoric and you lift it, there are fundamental problems with your campaign," said Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser.
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Appearing in Niles, Ohio, Obama said he didn't believe "this is too big a deal".
Obama later returned to Wolfson's assertion while speaking with reporters on his campaign plane. "The notion that using a line from one of my national campaign co-chairs is somehow objectionable, somehow doesn't make sense," he said.
Obama's aides also called Clinton's criticism of his public financing plans "curious". They noted that she was also the first candidate in the 2008 field to announce plans to reject the public financing system.
"We're just not going to be lectured on this," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
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