The plague of political plagiarism

Australia goes to the polls Saturday in what has been an entertaining campaign for political junkies but a dismal choice for the voter. One of the two candidates for the top job is uninspiring and the other is unappealing; depending on which side of the antipodean political fence you sit.  Most Australians are more concerned about this year’s “Aussie Rules” football grand final next month. This is a country where the first leadership debate was moved from its traditional Sunday evening peak viewing time so as not to clash with the MasterChef Grand Finale.

Voting is compulsory and Australia is one of the few western countries to enforce this law by fining and even imprisoning citizens who do not show up to their polling place and have their names crossed off the register.  A voter is not compelled to mark the ballot, as that much is secret (the secret ballot is otherwise known as the Australian ballot). A former leader of the Australian Labor Party who has proved to be more than a thorn in the side of his own party by taking a gig as a reporter for 60 Minutes, urged Australian voters to cast an informal ballot either by leaving it blank or by using the handy pencil to “send a message.” As someone who has scrutinized votes in past Australian elections, it is safe to say that sending scribbled messages of profanity to those seeking election is not new. Americans, accustomed to touch screens and levers, don’t have this wonderfully old-fashioned method of political self-expression – though it must be said that overseeing these votes is not for the faint-hearted.

The Hon. Julia Gillard, the nation’s first female Prime minister, took the ultimate punt in calling an election a mere two months after being parachuted into the highest office sans any election to establish some element of credibility with the ever-skeptical Aussie voters. Julia (just the first name, like Hillary) was selected by her Labor Party cohorts in an unprecedented backroom bloodless coup, with cigar smoke the only thing amiss.

Julia, like Hillary, has made the mistake of trying to emulate Barack Obama’s successful 2008 campaign chant “Yes We Can” though for the ladies it is “Yes We Will.”

During the Democratic primaries, a rather hoarse Senator Clinton, out on the stump in Lyndhurst, Ohio responded to a supporter’s chant of the Obama version and turned it (almost) into her own with “Yes We Will.” She was mocking the junior senator from Illinois and his kool-aid like chant. But it wasn’t her and did not fit the campaign narrative and it was never heard of again. That is, until the campaign launch of the Australian Labor Party (equivalent of the Democrats) just a week or so ago.

Julia was front and center giving her all-important speech straight from “her heart.” To her credit, she only read verbatim from a written speech on the podium and not Obama’s favorite prop, the trusty teleprompter. Australians can only handle so much American razzmatazz and political campaign wizardry.

Political plagiarism can be a tricky, embarrassing business, but not always fatal; just ask Vice President Joe Biden. Good ol’ Joe has a bit of a history plagiarizing. In the Democratic primaries for his first run at the White House, he was caught reciting a speech, almost verbatim, originally given by failed leftist British Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock.