memeorandum: PPP Poll: Obama With Comfortable WI Lead (Big Tent Democrat/TalkLeft)

2:45 PM ET, February 18, 2008

Top Items:

An Obama Refrain Bears Echoes of a Governor's Speeches — CHICAGO — Senator Barack Obama adapted one of his signature arguments — that his oratory amounts to more than inspiring words — from speeches given by Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts during his 2006 campaign.

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Clinton aide accuses Obama of plagiarism — Howard Wolfson, the Clinton campaign's communications director, today accused Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) of committing “plagiarism” in a speech in Milwaukee on Saturday night. — Wolfson made the explosive charge in an interview with Politico …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Donklephant, TigerHawk and Unfogged

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Is This Really Plagiarism? No — The New York Times makes a big deal about some similarities between elements in Barack Obama's speech and similar constructs in speeches given earlier by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in 2006. While the wording appears too close for coincidence …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU and The Ruckus

Big Head DC:

Obama Caught Plagiarizing 2006 Speech? — Big Head DC has discovered alarming similarities between a speech made by Sen. Barack Obama on February 16 while campaigning for president in Wisconsin and an October 2006 speech made by Deval Patrick, the current Democratic governor of Massachusetts.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Little Green Footballs, Macsmind, The Anonymous Liberal, A Blog For All, Daily Kos, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Jawa Report and UrbanGrounds

Timothy J. Burger / Bloomberg:
Obama Bought His Home With No Rezko ‘Discount,’ Seller Affirms

Discussion: MSNBC

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
IT'S ALL ABOUT AUTHENTICITY

Discussion: Political Punch and The Politico

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: Clinton And Obama Campaigns Accuse Each Other Of “Borrowing” Rhetoric

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Hillary Campaign: Obama Plagiarized Speech From Supporter

Discussion: Spin Cycle, The Caucus and Hot Air

Cernig / The Newshoggers:
Obama, “Plagiarism” and YouTube Attack Ads (Updated)

Discussion: Comments from Left Field and Big Head DC

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press: Obama says borrowed lines not a big deal

Jeff Fecke / Shakespeare's Sister:
Is Barack Obama a Plagiarist? (No.)

Discussion: Wonkette

Zzaki / Political Punch:
Obama Echoes Deval Patrick...Again

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER and Sister Toldjah

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama's rhetoric getting some friendly help?

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Spin Cycle and All Politics

Frank James / The Swamp:
Did Obama plagiarize? Clinton team says yes

Discussion: Political Radar

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway: Obama ‘Steals’ from King and Jefferson

Krooney / The Page:
Clinton Campaign Calls Obama a Promise-Breaking Rhetoric Lifter

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:

System Worries Clinton Backers — Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her in the must-win presidential primary contest.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, New York Times, MyDD, Dick Polman's American Debate, TIME: Swampland, Donklephant, Matthew Yglesias, Political Machine and Political Punch

Hilzoy / The Daily Dish:

Competence — From the Washington Post (emphasis added, and stolen from publius): … When I read this, I dissolved in giggles after the first sentence. It was that part about the Texas delegate selection rules “creating a new obstacle for her” that got me. In what sense are the Texas rules a “new obstacle?”

Discussion: The Mahablog, The New Republic, Eschaton, Comments from Left Field, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Balloon Juice

Publius / Obsidian Wings:
They're Not a Machine — This article should put to rest …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money and TIME: Swampland

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Clinton's Ties To Texas Run Long and Deep

Discussion: protein wisdom, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Newsweek Blogs, The Caucus and PrairiePundit

Phillip Martin / Burnt Orange Report:
Senator Clinton Campaign Worried by Texas Primary System

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Dean's World, All Spin Zone and Discourse.net

Greg Jefferson / MySanAntonio.com:
Clinton laid groundwork in this area decades ago

Discussion: HillaryClinton.com and The Campaign Spot

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

How Evangelical Leaders Blew It — Dan Gilgoff does a post-mortem on how the evangelical movement managed to allow John McCain to win the Republican Party nomination over two candidates more amenable to their cause. Gilgoff focuses on their failure to back Romney, and makes it plain …

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, Balloon Juice and Daimnation!

Daniel Gilgoff / USA Today:
Why the Religious Right is stuck with McCain

Discussion: Ross Douthat and Hot Air

William Kristol / New York Times:

Democrats Should Read Kipling — Browsing through a used-book store Friday — in the Milwaukee airport, of all places — I came across a 1981 paperback collection of George Orwell's essays. That's how I happened to reread his 1942 essay on Rudyard Kipling.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, Wonkette, TBogg, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Shakespeare's Sister, PrairiePundit, Grasping Reality …, Balloon Juice, The Mahablog, Connecting.the.Dots, James Fallows, Jules Crittenden and Riehl World View

New York Times:

Kosovo Is Recognized by U.S., France and Britain — BRUSSELS — The United States formally joined France and Britain in recognizing the independence of Kosovo on Monday, a day after the breakaway province declared itself independent of Serbia. — In a statement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Gateway Pundit and Patterico's Pontifications

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:

Nearly-naked hotties for Ron Paul! Really! — You better hurry because the last batch of Ron Paul pin-up calendars is going quickly. Which pleases Juliet Annerino no end because she sank a sizable chunk of her own change into printing up hundreds of these calendars to help fund the campaign of her favorite politician.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and LewRockwell.com Blog

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

PPP Poll: Obama With Comfortable WI Lead — According to PPP, Obama will capture a comfortable win in Wisconsin tomorrow: … What is interesting about this poll, and PPP's track record is not the greatest, is that it has Obama leading among women and all white voters.

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

Why Torts Trumped Terrorism — A closed-door caucus of House Democrats last Wednesday took a risky political course. By 4 to 1, they instructed Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call President Bush's bluff on extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue eavesdropping on suspected foreign terrorists.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Neptunus Lex, Captain's Quarters, Pirate's Cove, Emptywheel, PrairiePundit, Jules Crittenden and Blue Crab Boulevard

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

It's All Uphill From Here — It was 15 degrees outside on a wind-whipped Pennsylvania Avenue as Hillary Clinton, smile firmly fixed in place, made an early-morning stop for a primary she didn't have a prayer of winning. — Inside the high-ceilinged office of the National Council of Negro Women …

Discussion: Horses Mouth, The New Republic, QandO, Atlas Shrugs, Commentary and Romenesko

Michael J. Totten:

The Dungeon of Fallujah — “This is not Norway here, and it is not Denmark.” - Lebanese Forces militia leader Bashir Gemayel. — FALLUJAH - Next to the Joint Communications Center in downtown Fallujah is a squalid and war-shattered warehouse for human beings. Most detainees are common criminals.

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Silent Running and Jules Crittenden