Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that he doesn't think it's a big deal that he borrowed lines from his friend Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, although he probably should have given him credit.
Patrick said during his gubernatorial campaign a year and a half ago that words matter, like "I have a dream" and "all men are created equal."
Obama used the same lines Saturday night in Wisconsin. Obama said that Patrick suggested he use the lines to respond to Hillary Rodham Clinton's suggestion that Obama is more of a talker than a doer.
Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson accused Obama of plagiarizing Patrick, and that's particularly troubling since Obama's appeal is based in large part on his rhetorical skills.
"It raises questions about the premise of his candidacy," Wolfson told reporters in a conference call.
Obama, D-Ill., says that's going too far.
"Now hold on a second. Let's see -- I've written two books, wrote most of my speeches," Obama told reporters at a news conference after touring a titanium plant.
"I'm happy to give Deval credit, as I give credit to a lot people for spurring all kinds of ideas," he said. "But I think that it is fair to say that everything that we've been doing in generating excitement and the interest that people have in the election is based on the core belief in me that we need change in America."
UPDATE: More from the Washington Times, Red Mass Group, Power Line, National Review Online, Hub Politics and Blogs For Victory.
SECOND UPDATE: More from Blogs for Victory, Howie Carr, Scot Lehigh, Casey Ross, Wizbang, Scott Allen Miller, the Herald and Globe.
