The Dangers of Plagiarism

I saw something on Twitter this morning that could end up in the news pretty soon.  It appears that Pete Buttigieg tweeted (and said in a speech) something similar to what President Obama said in one of his speeches ("If we can light up a high school gym--we can light a neighborhood...If we can light up a neighborhood--we can light a city..." compared to Obama saying "One voice can change a room, and if...can change a city...).  I think there is clearly enough similarity to call the possibility of plagiarism into question.  It would have been fine if he put quotes around the words and credited President Obama.  In fact, that would have been more than fine, it would have highlighted his support and respect for President Obama.

Taking an Obama quote and sending it out as if it's his own, however, could be a whole other story.  Just ask Joe Biden.  Plagiarism can quickly derail a campaign, and now is not a good time to get derailed, right before Super Tuesday.  If he doesn't get ahead of this before it percolates up to the national news (which should occur within 24-48 hours), this could prove to be the end of his campaign.  Maybe that's well enough anyway.  He's had a great run, but it's not looking likely that he can garner enough support to jump up to second.  Unfortunately, whoever is in second after Super Tuesday will take the lead a the alternative to Bernie Sanders.  I say unfortunately because, it could be Joe Biden.  The former front runner can not be looked at as the alternative as he rapidly declines from his previous perch.  Biden should have dropped out already, but instead, his ego has kept him going.  That ego will ultimately lead to Bernie Sanders being the nominee, with one possible exception.  That exception continues to be Mike Bloomberg.

If Buttigieg has a sudden drop, and Biden's drop continues, Bloomberg can bubble up into second place on Super Tuesday.  If he's a clear second, the Democratic party will have a clear choice.  Will the others clear out and make room for whoever becomes the clear second choice?  If they let their egos win out, the answer is no.  Andrew Yang is right, the others need to do the math and follow his lead.  If that happens, there will be an opportunity to really see what happens over the course of the rest of the primary season.  All of this is informing my vote in the upcoming California primary.  I'll wait until after this weeks debate to make up my mind, and see what's happened as it relates to Buttigieg's use of President Obama's quote.