Media outlets are treating the controversy over Sen. Barack Obama's use of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's words in a speech Saturday night in Wisconsin as a major story -- one that could affect the tight primary race in Wisconsin. The Boston Globe reports that in his Wisconsin speech, Obama said, "'I have a dream' - just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' - just words?" The Globe says those lines "are very similar to statements Patrick uttered during his 2006 campaign." CNN's The Situation Room reported, "In an hour-long conference call pushing the issue with reporters, the Clinton campaign said for Obama to use Patrick's words without attribution -- quote 'calls into the question the premise of Obama's candidacy.'" The Washington Post notes Howard Wolfson, a senior adviser to Clinton, told reporters, "The point we're making overall is that Senator Obama's record as a senator and as a public official is thin. ... If you're asking an electorate to judge you on your promises and you break them, and on your rhetoric and you lift it, there are fundamental problems with your campaign." The Politico adds that Wolfson said, "When an author plagiarizes from another author there is damage done to two different parties. One is to the person he plagiarized from. The other is to the reader."
The Financial Times reports, "In an attack designed to remind people of Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 1988 presidential campaign after his uncredited use of passages from Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour party opposition in the UK, the Clinton campaign said it raised 'fundamental questions' about the integrity of Mr Obama's campaign." The Los Angeles Times reports that Clinton, "in response to a question from reporters on her campaign plane, added her voice to her staff's criticism of Obama. 'If your whole candidacy is about words, they should be your own words,' she said. 'That's what I think.'"
The Washington Times says Patrick, "an Obama supporter, dismissed the copycat charges as bogus since he has helped the campaign with speechwriting and the two are close friends." The Chicago Tribune reports that "Obama's campaign quickly countered that Clinton had borrowed some of his phrases in her public appearances, such as 'Yes, we can,' and 'Fired up and ready to go'" but Obama "appeared defensive when asked whether his words are his own."
The network news broadcasts last night were not particularly sympathetic to Clinton's charge, with two of them playing down its importance. The CBS Evening News characterized it as a broader attack on Obama as Clinton struggles to remain competitive, and shows a Clinton supporter in Wisconsin saying, "There are things that are more important, I think. I don't think it is that big of an issue." ABC World News noted the Clinton charges, then showed former presidential adviser David Gergen saying, "Plagiarism is way over the top. Borrowed, yes. A mistake, very definitely. Acknowledge it, dumb mistake, move on." Leading with the story, NBC Nightly News went a step further, and showed Clinton engaging in similar behavior. After noting Clinton's charge, it included, as part of its report, footage of Sen. Clinton at Coretta Scott King's funeral, using rhetoric previously delivered by her husband. Clinton was shown saying, "And we asked ourselves, will we say when the call comes 'send me'?" NBC added, "Turns out that same phrase came out of a different mouth just two years earlier, her husband's." Bill Clinton: "Say to him what he has always said to America? Send me." NBC noted "it's a biblical reference and a popular one but it shows just how hard it is for anyone these days to be entirely original or entirely even keeled, especially with so much at stake."
Voters go to the polls today in the Wisconsin presidential primaries, and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigned across the state yesterday looking for last minute votes. McClatchy reports Obama and Clinton "carried their rivalry Monday across this ice-crusted state, where notoriously hard-to-predict Democratic voters are primed to give one of them a significant boost on Tuesday. ... Polls suggest that the race is close. Clinton made last-minute adjustments in her Monday schedule so she'd spend all day campaigning here, instead of leaving early as originally planned."
The New York Times says Clinton and Obama both "intensified their populist economic appeals on Monday." The Times adds "many" of Clinton's "applause lines reprise the rhetoric employed by" former presidential candidate John Edwards. The AP reports that as she campaigned yesterday, Clinton released her economic plan, which "resembles a populist manifesto -- with Clinton championing the needs of working-class voters over corporate and business interests."
The AP reports that voting trends in Wisconsin "sketch a picture of a state whose voters are practically tailor-made to resuscitate Clinton's campaign. For starters, nine in 10 of Wisconsin's Democratic voters in 2004 were white, far more than the six in 10 so far in this year's primaries." And Clinton "has so far forged an 11 percentage point advantage among whites, helping offset his lopsided edge among blacks. ... Working class people, especially those who are white, are another group Clinton has been carrying, and Wisconsin Democrats include large proportions of them compared to the rest of the nation's Democrats."
However, despite polls last week showing the race competitive and the demographics of the state, Clinton's campaign is downplaying the importance of the results. USA Today reports Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson "said the Wisconsin results should not be interpreted as a measure of the campaign's strength because Ohio and Texas remain important prizes."
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Democrats also go to the polls today in Hawaii. The AP reports that Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "are expected to draw long lines and record turnout" in Hawaii's caucuses "as voters take advantage of a rare opportunity to influence the tight contest for the Democratic presidential nomination." Obama "is the presumed favorite in the caucus because he was born in Hawaii and graduated from one of its high schools. Labor unions and prominent Sen. Daniel Inouye are backing Sen. Clinton." The Chicago Tribune reports that turnout could "triple or even quadruple what it was in 1988," the current high-water mark for Democratic caucus participation.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign has made it clear they need a win in Texas to blunt Sen. Obama's momentum, but a new poll shows her only narrowly leading Sen. Barack Obama. A CNN -Opinion Research Corp. poll of 529 likely Texas Democratic voters conducted Feb. 14-17 shows Clinton leading Obama 50%-48%.
Former President George H.W. Bush's endorsement of Sen. John McCain is getting extensive media coverage. Much of it says the current president's father offered strong backing for the GOP frontrunner, going as far as to criticize McCain's critics on the right. As NBC Nightly News reported, Bush "went beyond a simple endorsement." Bush 42 was shown saying, "No one is better prepared to lead our nation at these trying times than Sen. John McCain." The former chief executive also labeled "Republicans sniping at McCain 'annoying and unfair.'" Said Bush, "I think the criticism on this conservative or not conservative is absurd." Bush was also seen as sending a "gentle message" to Mike Huckabee, saying, "It can take a while for any candidate to read the handwriting on the wall." In a brief report, the CBS Evening News also noted Bush "urged conservatives to rally to McCain, calling criticism of him grossly unfair."
The Los Angeles Times reports McCain "said he welcomed the Bush endorsement and hoped it would help him rally the party behind him to begin waging a battle against Democrats. 'We as a party must unite and move forward and attract not only members of our own party but independents and so-called Reagan Democrats,' McCain said, adding that Democrats had been wrong when they said the surge in Iraq would not work and should be held accountable for their position."
Another theme in the media coverage, first raised by yesterday's New York Times, is the analysis of how a close association with the Bushes may help or hurt McCain. NBC Nightly News said "McCain is about to find out the value of the Bush brand in this race for the White House, as two generations, each with their own political successes and political liabilities, pledged to help McCain win." In its lead story, ABC World News reported McCain "has a dilemma. He needs George W. Bush's support to help sure up the conservative Republican base that has, thus far, refused to embrace him. But there could be risks to being linked to a president with an approval rating hovering around 30%." ABC said the President's "main role in the fall campaign could be fundraising and addressing conservative and evangelical voters with who he remains popular."
The New York Times reports that "while some advisers to Mr. McCain have suggested that he would be careful about when and how he appeared with the president, Mr. McCain himself was more enthusiastic about the prospect on Monday." Said McCain, "I'd be honored to have President George Bush's support, his endorsement, I'd be honored to be anywhere with him under any circumstances."
The Dallas Morning News reports, "A John McCain-Kay Bailey Hutchison Republican presidential ticket? Don't count on it." Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), who has frequently been mentioned as a potential McCain running mate, "all but dismissed the possibility Monday afternoon during a stop in Dallas." Hutchison said, "It's not something I want. I'd so much more like to keep helping Texas. I hope I'm not in a position where I'm considered." Hutchison said she hadn't "talked to Mr. McCain...about running with him, nor have they discussed any of his prospective running mates."
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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the war against al Qaeda, appears to have emerged as the big loser in yesterday's legislative elections in Pakistan. According to preliminary reports, opposition parties will have overwhelming majorities in the Pakistani legislature. In an ominous sign for American interests, USA Today is reporting "Pakistan's next government could face intense public pressure to reduce its cooperation with the US war on terror. Leaders may have to choose between defying voters or defying their country's patrons in Washington." While "Musharraf was not on the ballot...a solid victory by opposition parties might lead him to back off his unpopular crackdown on Islamist militants, says retired lieutenant general Hamid Gul, former head of the intelligence service." Likewise, the AP says Musharraf "was not on the ballot, but the election was widely seen as a referendum on his eight-year rule -- including his alliance with the United States in the war against terrorist groups that many Pakistanis oppose."
The Financial Times reports Musharraf "looked set to become a lame duck president," while the New York Times headlines its front-page report "Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat To Musharraf In Election," and says the election results "were interpreted here as a repudiation of Mr. Musharraf as well as the Bush administration." The election "opened the prospect of a Parliament that would move to undo many of Mr. Musharraf's policies and that may even try to remove him." The "early edge," adds the Times, "went to the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, which seemed to benefit from a strong wave of sympathy in reaction to the assassination of its leader, Benazir Bhutto, on Dec. 27, and may be in a position to form the next government." The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Washington Times run similar reports.
CIA Strike In Pakistan Was Model For Future Attacks Even as Musharraf's backers went down in Pakistan's election, the Washington Post examines in a 1,600-word front page story the January 29th mission in which a CIA Predator aircraft crossed into Pakistan and killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander. The strike against al-Libi, the "first successful strike against al-Qaeda's core leadership in two years," was conducted with "an unusual degree of autonomy by the CIA inside Pakistan." The strike is described as "a model of how Washington often scores its rare victories these days in the fight against al-Qaeda inside Pakistan's national borders," particularly as the US "acts with assistance from well-paid sympathizers inside the country, but without getting the government's formal permission beforehand." The Post speculates that the strategy of not seeking Pakistani approval "could be used more frequently this year, particularly if a power vacuum results from yesterday's election and associated political tumult."
President Bush may not be very popular at home or in many parts of the globe but in Africa, he is being greeted as a savior. Furthermore, the President is getting glowing coverage from US media outlets for his Africa policies. USA Today, for example, says that yesterday, in Tanzania, "Bush was swept up in an outpouring of affection Monday," as "tens of thousands lined the road to see him, one woman burst into a dance of joy just from a hug and fierce-looking Maasai warriors leapt and chanted in his honor. ... As Bush's motorcade sped back and forth across the region, people lined almost the entire route several deep just to watch him pass. On one stretch, locals had even strewn flowers in the road."
Yesterday, says AFP, Bush "unveiled a new plan...to hand out millions of bed-nets to defend every Tanzanian child aged one to five from the mosquitoes that spread deadly malaria." ABC World News says the reason behind Africans' enthusiasm is Bush's effort "to fight malaria, a disease that kills a million African children under the age of five every year. ... As he toured a malaria hospital," the President "was welcomed as a hero. A warm reception for good reason: The $1.5 billion anti-malaria program Mr. Bush launched in 2005 has shown dramatic results. The program has reduced deaths in fifteen African nations and in some countries, deaths have been cut by more than half." The CBS Evening News noted the Administration "has spent nearly half a billion dollars to fight malaria in Africa, and even more in the battle against AIDS." And all that spending is saving lives." That is the "reason...Bush has gotten a hero's welcome" in Africa. The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Times all run similar reports, casting Bush's efforts against AIDS and malaria in a positive light.
The Christian Science Monitor says this morning, "Looking through the lens of 2001, it might have been difficult to predict that Africa would become the place on the planet where...Bush would be voted most popular." But "in a recent poll by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press, eight of the Top 10 nations that gave America the highest approval ratings were African, a reflection of increases in American aid as well as trust in its institutions and leadership. (The other two nations in the Top 10? Israel, and America.)"
AFP reports this morning Fidel Castro "resigned Tuesday as president and commander in chief of Cuba in a message published in the online version of the official daily Granma." Wrote Castro, "I neither will aspire to nor will I accept -- I repeat -- I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief."
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Jay Leno: "As you know, Hillary has lost the last eight primaries in a row. So any crying you see from now on is going to be real."
David Letterman: "I like John McCain. He looks like an old guy in a coffee shop who is still complaining about the designated hitter."
Conan O'Brien: "There's a big campaign scandal brewing. I don't know if you've heard about this, but Hillary Clinton's campaign is accusing Barack Obama of plagiarizing a speech by the governor of Massachusetts. Yeah. Yeah, and they may have a point because Barack's speech was entitled, 'I Love Chowda.'"
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