Democrats claim Bush lifted Clinton language

From CNN White House Correspondent Major Garrett

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Democrats on Friday reacted angrily to Texas Gov. George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the GOP convention Thursday, asserting that key passages were lifted almost entirely from President Bill Clinton's own speeches.

"There is a difference between triangulation and plagiarism," said one Democrat. "We've stolen some of their ideas, but we've never stolen their words."

Democrats spent much of Friday comparing Bush's speech to several of Clinton's policy speeches and found these similarities.

Bush: We will use these good times for great goals.

Clinton: Our chance to do good is so great (State of the Union address, 2000).

Bush: We will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country.

Clinton: We will make sure opportunity and prosperity reaches every person and every corner of this country. (January 1999 speech to U.S. Conference of Mayors).

Bush: Medicare does more than meet the needs of our elderly, it reflects our values as a society.

Clinton: Medicare is more than just a program. It reflects our values. (National radio address on December 13, 1997).

Bush: Too many American children are segregated into schools without standards, shuffled from grade-to-grade because of their age, regardless of their knowledge.

Clinton: I don't think any child in America should be passed from grade to grade without knowing the material. (Education speech, February 2, 1999 in Alston, Massachusetts)

Clinton: No child in any community, in any grade, should be passed without learning the material. (Education speech May 7, 1998).

Bush: A time of prosperity is a test of vision.

Clinton: In times of prosperity, we need to be more visionary. (Speech to Congressional Black Caucus on September 19, 1998).

Democrats fear that what they call Bush's use of Clinton's language could prove potent in the coming election. They see Bush as using the best of Clinton's language and aping many of his centrist themes while offering a higher standard of personal ethics and leadership.

The challenge, these Democrats said, would be for Vice President Al Gore and his allies to show voters that lurking behind Bush's language is a set of conservative policy goals that most voters either disagree with or have serious doubts about. Among those are: big tax cuts, big defense spending increases, a hard-line against abortion, and the use of federal tax subsidies to help parents pay private school tuition.

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart also challenged Bush's accusation that the president squandered his two terms in office, offering no compelling leadership on big issues.

"You can't have an honest argument that we're in a period of good times and the president didn't lead," Lockhart told reporters after Clinton arrived in Martha's Vineyard.

"We're in a period of good times because the president did lead."