February 19, 2008

2/19: Copycat!

The big topic in the blogosphere is the Hillary Clinton camp's accusation that Barack Obama committed "plagiarism" during a 2/16 speech. Most (but not all) liberal bloggers think this is a bogus charge that reflects the Clinton camp's increasing desperation. But will the attack -- and the considerable media attention it has received -- make a difference in today's contests in WI and HI?

Meanwhile, conservative bloggers continue to rally behind John McCain. We predicted on 2/14 that "by disseminating damaging critiques of the Dem nominee's words and record, righty bloggers will prove to be a valuable weapon for McCain." If the uproar in the conservative blogosphere over Michelle Obama's recent comments is any indication, that process has already begun.

CLINTON: I'm Not A Biter, I'm A Writer For Myself And Others

Most liberal bloggers were dismissive of the Clinton camp's "plagiarism" accusation:

TPM's David Kurtz: "Obviously, this isn't plagiarism. But like the flip-flop line of attack Hillary is pressing on Obama's public financing pledge, the attack speaks to her campaign's effort to undermine the very thing that has been the centerpiece of Obama's candidacy: his authenticity...The attacks are intended to bring down Obama's positives, to knock him off his pedestal. But it's hard to see how they raise Hillary's. Her argument, boiled down, is: 'He's no better than me.' (Or perhaps, less charitably, 'He's just as bad as me.') Judged as political rhetoric, it strikes me as equally ineffective as her earlier charge that Obama was 'raising false hopes.'"

TAPPED's Sam Boyd: "This is dumbest controversy since Clinton accused Obama of having a messy desk."

The Huffington Post's Bob Cesca: "This really is a desperate attack...Seriously, is this what Howard Wolfson and Mark Penn have been reduced to? Senator Clinton, if you really want to win this thing, you need to fire these guys."

Daily Kos' Markos Moulitsas: "My memory is hazy. Was the [Howard] Dean campaign as pathetic during its 'implosion' stage as the Clinton campaign has behaved the last week or two? I'm trying to figure out if this is normal behavior for a desperate campaign or if the Clintons are reaching new heights of idiocy...How long before we have a YouTube of Hillary 'plagiarizing' words and phrases from other places? I say 36 hours."

Several bloggers accused HRC of hypocrisy, noting that she, too, has borrowed phrases from other politicians:

The New Republic's Noam Scheiber: "I find it a little strange that the Clinton campaign would be pushing this allegation. As I noted back in November, you can't listen to a Clinton speech without hearing multiple riffs she's filched from other candidates."

The Nation's Ari Melber: "Since it's considered so clever to project a candidate's weakness onto an opponent, it's really no surprise that the Clinton Campaign is now attacking Obama on trumped up allegations of sounding like another politician...If anything, she should be under pressure for mimicking both Obama and McCain, but instead, a dramatic conference call spurred reporters to press Obama on the issue. But it's precisely times like these when Obama's talk about transcending petty politics makes the most sense."

CLINTON II: Gotta Love It, 'Cause I Expose The Facade

Pro-Clinton bloggers had a different take on the plagiarism controversy:

Taylor Marsh: "Obama's played his supporters for suckers. They bought into the hope hype, sucking up this stuff with a straw, only to find out Obama's not an original, he's a knock off, of a governor, no less. Siphoning off of a winning campaign to try to win the presidency with a formula...Barack Obama isn't an original. He's the first 21st century L. Ron Hubbard of politics, Elmer Gantry, name your huckster. 'I have a dream' just became 'I have a con.'"

TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt: "I've been suggesting we ignore Obama's scripted speeches for months. This is just more evidence of that proposition to me."

MyDD's Jerome Armstrong thinks Obama strategist David Axelrod "got sloppy" with his speech-writing: "It seems much more likely that David Axelrod, who is the message guru behind both campaigns, got sloppy with the text he wrote for Obama. Pat Cadell, when he got sloppy while working for Joe Biden, blamed it on his sub-conscious remembrance. Axelrod has been re-working the same playbook he's done for Obama and [MA Gov. Deval] Patrick in a number of races over this decade, including Obama's from '04, and which Patrick borrowed from at times. [...] Sounds like a good marketing scheme has been sold one too many times...but is this really plagiarism? Nah, just words."

CLINTON III: Dissing Red-State Dems

Liberal bloggers are once again criticizing the Clinton camp for downplaying the importance of states where Obama won. Joel Ferguson, the co-chairman of HRC's MI campaign, provoked the criticism by saying:

"Superdelegates are not second-class delegates. The real second-class delegates are the delegates that are picked in red-state caucuses that are never going to vote Democratic."

Moulitsas: "What is it with Clinton's people and their utter disdain for a 50-state strategy? And do they not realize that there are other races on the ballot, and that having the party's standard bearer trash red states publicly isn't going to do any favors to congressional, statewide, and local-level Democrats busting their asses to move their states in a progressive direction?...If this was an isolated quote, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it's clear that from Bill [Clinton], to Hillary, to Mark Penn, and on down, the campaign has made clear to its surrogates that this line of attack isn't just tolerated, it's encouraged."

The Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias: "Apparently Hillary Clinton's campaign can't get through a day without picking out some new set of states that don't count."

Atrios: "I don't mind politicians engaging in a bit of politics, what annoys me is either ludicrously bad politics or rhetoric which reinforces right wing bullshit about our side. Is dismissing the voters and caucusgoers a good way to woo the superdelegates of those states?"

OBAMA: Opening Salvos

Conservative bloggers are piling onto Michelle Obama for a statement she made on 2/18, when she said:

"[Hope] is making a comeback. And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."

Hot Air's Bryan Preston: "Only her husband's run for president has made her proud of America? That's extremely narcissistic and self-centered...I certainly don't want such a vain pessimist as First Lady."

Power Line's Paul Mirengoff: "The arrogance, ingratitude, and knee-jerk anti-Americanism of [her] remark are self-evident...It's comforting to know that America can vindicate itself in Ms. Obama's eyes by electing Barack president. But it's unlikely that even her new-found pride in America, and whatever pride her husband might muster, would be sufficient to cause Mr. Obama seriously to defend its sovereignty."

Commentary's John Podhoretz: "[Her statement] suggests, first, that the pseudo-messianic nature of the Obama candidacy is very much a part of the way the Obamas themselves are feeling about it these days...Second, it suggests the Obama campaign really does have its roots in New Class leftism, according to which patriotism is not only the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the first refuge as well -- that America is not fundamentally good but flawed, but rather fundamentally flawed and only occasionally good. There's something for John McCain to work with here."

NRO's Victor Davis Hanson: "Michelle Obama is a loose cannon, and I fear that her latest is not her last. I would have thought that two Ivy-League degrees, a joint income of about a million dollars, exclusive private schools for the kids, and a nice home in the suburbs were not so bad and might suggest that hope had made a comeback well before Barack's presidential run."

Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey: "Michelle Obama has a habit of going much too far in promoting what is becoming a personality cult."

MCCAIN: He May Be A Maverick, But He's Our Maverick

Townhall's Patrick Ruffini thinks conservatives should "let McCain be McCain": "I fought as hard as anyone to get us a different nominee. But now that it's McCain, can't we at least get the benefit of his unique maverick-style approach to campaigning instead of the uninspiring Bob Dole 'unite the party' routine we've got right now? My problem with McCain was never with his free-wheeling maverick style. In fact, I'm in awe of how he uses to bring people around to unpopular positions. The problem was that I wished he'd spent more times pushing positions unpopular with Democrats. But those times he has agreed with us, such as the war, he has turned out to be the best advocate we could have. By flashing his trademark pugnacity and humor, by deploying his straight talk on behalf of red meat conservative issues, he can go a long way towards amping up the enthusiasm level of grassroots conservatives."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt continues to promote McCain on national security grounds: "John McCain has been preparing his whole life to be Commander-in-Chief in wartime, and his reading continues to be the sort one expects of a C-in-C in waiting. I don't think any serious conservative can compare Senator McCain to either Senator Clinton or Senator Barack and say the war would be in better hands with either of the Democrats. In fact, any supporter of victory has to shudder at the prospect of turning the American military over to either of those two as this conflict rages."

Michelle Malkin, on the other hand, isn't ready to get on board the Straight Talk Express just yet: "John McCain is incapable of disagreeing with strict immigration enforcement activists without lambasting their character, honesty, and integrity. We're 'nativists' and Jim Crow-style racists who should just 'f**k' off. He couldn't help sneering at former GOP rival Mitt Romney's business experience as dishonorable and greedy. And his personal vindictiveness toward GOP Hill staffers who have opposed his positions is well-known."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Why Obama Is Jay-Z and Hillary Is Cam'ron

Adam Leon explains:

"Hillary Clinton's plagiarism ploy brings to mind the classic beef between rappers Cam'ron and Jay-Z. In 2006, Cam'ron released several dis tracks aimed at his former labelmate, the generally unimpeachable Jay-Z. [...]

One of the songs Cam dropped was 'Swagger Jacker,' a seven-and-a-half-minute epic sonic collage sampling instances where Jay-Z 'plagiarized' from other rappers. The parallels to Hillary's YouTube dis video are undeniable. Both Hillary and Cam'ron, unable to gain the respect or popularity of their rival, resort to calling their opponent a plagiarist. The arguments are thin at best, although at least Cam included multiple examples. As Noam Scheiber (No'am?) pointed out, almost all politicians bite each others' rhymes, and Senator Clinton is in no way a stranger to the practice. [...]

Jay-Z came out the victor in the beef, in part because he reacted with no more than a shrug, refusing to release a response song directly aimed at his foe. Jay was able to position himself as above such childish and desperate mud-slinging, a strategy Senator Obama seems to have successfully, um, borrowed."

LEST WE FORGET: U.S. Politics 101

The Onion has a helpful glossary of commonly used political terms (h/t Patrick Appel). Here are some of our favorites:

• ballot: An object recording a voter's decision that is frequently counted toward an election's outcome.
• debate: A contest to see which candidate can answer the fewest questions.
• election worker: A male or female at least 70 years of age.
• electoral college: A process by which the number of states in the Union is narrowed down to the most important seven or eight.
• hope: An intangible object within every American that is destroyed every four years in November.
• likability: The degree to which each candidate is able to hide the extent to which he or she is full of shit.
• Rock The Vote: Something that is, apparently, still happening.
• voter apathy: The reason most American politicians are able to achieve and maintain office.

Posted by Ian Faerstein at February 19, 2008 12:49 PM