Deval Patrick Says He Told Obama Directly To Use Quotes; Clinton's Claims Are "Extravagant"

February 19, 2008 9:43 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, in response to Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) accusations that fellow Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has lifted parts of his speeches during presidential rallies, said on national television that he told the Illinois senator to use some of his lines during his public appearances.

The defense for the Democratic frontrunner was delivered by Patrick on the Tuesday airing of ABC's "Good Morning America," addressing the issue that had circulated throughout the media amidst the heated race for the nomination.

Patrick said described Clinton's accusations of plagiarism against Obama as "an elaborate charge and an extravagant one."

"I think it's a sad comment on the state of the race and the state of our politics that the Clinton campaign is taking this particular tack," Patrick told interviewer Diane Sawyer.

The issue began when the Clinton campaign gunned down Obama's appearance during a rally in Wisconsin, when it pointed out that part of Obama's speech about the power of words had similar rhetoric to a speech made by Patrick in 2006. The Clinton camp pointed out that both Patrick and Obama made reference to Martin Luther King Jr., the Declaration of Independence, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"If your whole candidacy is about words, they should be your words," The Boston Globe quoted Clinton.

"It's not like he's writing a law review article or a book or something like that," Patrick responded.

He added that Obama did not need to give credit to him for the use of his words.

According to Raw Story, many voters sided with Patrick on the issue, with a voter found at a Clinton event saying "I don't care what he says about someone else's words."

Obama had not elaborated on the issue, except by saying that he should have indeed given credit to Patrick.