DENVER -- (TYDN) Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech here at the Democratic National Convention late Thursday was a nearly verbatim script plagiarized from the hundreds of candidates who have sought to become the next president of the United States, according to an analysis of the 50-minute speech by TheYellowDailyNews.
The Illinois senator's speech was riddled with plagiarized statements including "God Bless America," "I accept your nomination for presidency of the United States," "the stakes are too high," "I love this country" and "as commander in chief I will never hesitate to defend this nation" -- statements uttered by innumerable candidates since the union was formed, according to an exhaustive analysis by TheYellowDailyNews.
Some analysts suggested that the plagiarism was inevitable given that Obama chose Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. In 1987, Biden, the senator from Delaware, dropped out of the race for president after it was disclosed he plagiarized a speech from a British politician at the Iowa State Fair.
Obama's plagiarism is expected to be a political lightning rod as the Nov. 4 election nears.
Political strategists said Sen. John McCain of Arizona is expected to criticize Obama's speech at the Republican National Convention next week in Minnesota, where McCain will accept his party's nomination for president. But moments after Obama's oration, speech writers were revising McCain's speech, deleting phrases like "a better, stronger America" and "the need for change is now," sources requesting anonymity, and granted anonymity, told TheYellowDailyNews.
Still, many Democratic strategists hailed the speech. "What he did was squarely place himself in tradition. It was a very straight speech in which he made himself an agent of change, that he was not his opponent, and it worked," analyst James Itoldia said. "I think he did everything he needed to do as a presidential candidate. It was not over the top. It was appropriate."
Other analysts contacted by TheYellowDailyNews were surprised by Obama's plagiarism. "We never dreamt he was going to criticize his opponent and say 'hard work and sacrifice' are in Americans' future," said one analyst, who requested anonymity and was granted anonymity by TheYellowDailyNews.
Republican strategists ripped the speech.
"It sounded so much like a Ross Perot speech in 1992," said one strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and was granted anonymity by TheYellowDailyNews. "He's been great on rhetoric. And now he needed to add the meat and potatoes, and he failed at that."
