This is not a list about politics, so one needs to be very careful about charges of "empty rhetoric." 

Both the candidates have substantive positions and both highlighted areas that they disagree on.  I would identify where those substantive differences lie, but this is not the list for such a discussion.

The plagiarism charge is interesting and I must make an observation about it.

Josh Marshall notes that in 1992, Bill Clinton said the following:

 "The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/179614.php

I thought I heard very, very similar words last night at the close of the debate and I heard no attribution.  So, for the following, 

"even if I'm friends with Bill Clinton (which I'm not), I can't just "lift" entire passages from his previous speeches and then give them without attribution, with or without his permission. "

you might want to forward your observation to the Clinton campaign and mention the warning in English about people living in glass houses throwing stones.  

Again, this is not a list about politics, a topic for which I am more than willing to discuss, but this is not the best venue for it.

Bob Yates, University of Central Missouri 

>>> Carol Morrison <[log in to unmask]> 02/22/08 10:19 AM >>>
I'm sure many of you saw the debates last night; I only saw part of them, but from what I saw, I think that Hillary Clinton was more effective. Obama seemed to fumble over his answers and even in his speech. Clinton was very direct and to the point. I do believe that Obama wastes words or at least, last night, he had a lot of empty rhetoric in his replies. I teach my students to avoid "fluff" and "padding" in their essays, and I felt that much of what he said was hedging or evading the answer. As to the charges of plagiarism by Clinton, Obama's reply that his friend "gave him permission" to use these lines does not exonerate him from the responsibility of giving attribution for the borrowed phrases, does it? I mean, even if I'm friends with Bill Clinton (which I'm not), I can't just "lift" entire passages from his previous speeches and then give them without attribution, with or without his permission. Or can I? I'm interested in what other's perceptions are. I have not
 heard Obama speak in the past, so I'm only going by what I heard last night.
   
  Carol
   
    

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