Clinton swipes at Obama in Texas debate
At last night’s Democratic debate in Texas presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton accused her rival Barack Obama of plagiarism when she called him “the candidate for change you can Xerox”. The attack referred to a speech Obama made in Milwaukee last Saturday which appeared to borrow heavily from another speech made in 2006 by Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. Both Patrick and Obama used the same communications director, David Axelrod, in their respective campaigns.
The Illinois senator responded last night by saying the allegations belong to the "silly season in politics", and that candidates "shouldn't be spending time tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."
Clinton’s attack, which drew boos from the audience, was the only negative remark in an otherwise civil encounter. The two candidates spent much of the evening agreeing with each other on issues such as welfare, health care and immigration, although it was Senator Clinton who appeared to give stronger answers on foreign policy issues. As usual, the crowd seemed firmly behind Senator Obama, who entered the university auditorium in Austin to rapturous cheering.
FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 22, 2008
|  |
 |
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments
Hide comments
I found it curious that Clinton would bring up the subject of plagiarism, when she was not averse to 'borrowing' from the speeches that John Edwards made just a few months ago. People in glass houses....
Posted by SimonB at 4:57pm on February 23, 2008
She just doesn't know when to stop pushing a point... all was neck and neck, until she insisted on trying to make a case out of what was simply an unacknowledged (at that instant) quotation. He was angry, but remained civil and regained his composure - she almost had to apologise... not good. This is a great learning curve for Obama, now he knows the pettiness of American politics and no doubt will use his oratorial skills to avoid the pitfalls when he meets McCain.
Posted by Faith Blackwood at 6:03pm on February 23, 2008
Add comment
You must be signed into your user account to add a comment.