Obama Plagarism Scandal

In their coverage plagiarism scandal surrounding Senator Obama, the New York Times followed their usual quote-heavy style of presenting the story in terms of the arguments made by each candidate. The Times presents Clinton's accusations, tells the reader what Obama actually said and compares his statement to Deval Patrick’s 2006 speech, and presents Obama’s rebuttal to the charge. On balance, the coverage seems fair. One interesting element of the Times’ coverage by Jeff Zeleny, is the progression from the Times' own analysis on February 18 (headline of “An Obama Refrain Bears Echoes of a Governor’s Speeches”) the Times presenting Clinton's critique, albeit with Obama's rebuttal, on February 19 headline of “Clinton Camp Says Obama Plagiarized in Speech.”

The Stump’s coverage took a largely analytical view; the blog assumed leaders had knowledge of the basic information presented in the Times articles, and instead asked deeper questions. What does this attack mean for poll numbers among various demographics? Does it demonstrate Clinton's desperation? Given the proliferation of speechwriters and common rhetoric, does any candidate not plagiarize? While it did not address the issue in specific posts on the plagiarism scandal, The Stump could have also explored the relationship between Patrick and Obama, which includes their common message of hope, transcendence of partisan labels, racial backgrounds, experiences in Chicago and at Harvard Law, and reliance on political consultant David Axelrod – all interesting comparisons that would never have made the Times’ article.

Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/politics/19campaign.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&adxnnlx=1203457352-aO68KdGXPxZj65Q+FIMcgA
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/us/politics/18video.html?_r=1&fta=y&oref=login
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/02/19/plagiarism-cont-d.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/02/18/quote-of-the-day-feb-18.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/02/18/the-plagiarism-charged-parsed.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/02/18/war-of-words.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/02/18/does-any-candidate-not-plagiarize.aspx