SHOT. . .
Where have we heard this before? An excerpt from Pete Buttigieg’s speech after the Nevada caucuses:
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.
If we can light up a city—we can light up our country.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 23, 2020
CHASER. . .
Oh yeah:
Obama: “One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state.”
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 6, 2012
Here’s Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett on Buttigieg’s borrowed rhetoric:
oh man https://t.co/7EyuSwlXga
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) February 23, 2020
LOL. “Karaoke night”:
It’s karaoke night!
— Jason Goldman (@goldman) February 23, 2020
And Obama staffer Tommy Vietor weighed in as well:
The riff after this about his Kenyan father was good too. https://t.co/t54m0vOlsV
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 23, 2020
Watch the original from the night before the 2008 election here:
Sounded familiar to you huh https://t.co/o2X6agSiv3
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) February 23, 2020
It’s pretty obvious, right?
I covered the Obama trip to Greenwood SC in 2008 where he reunited with Edith Childs, the local councilwoman with the colorful hats who inspired this famous riff. It's pretty, um, startling to see the riff copied this brazenly. https://t.co/B9eQyuoER5
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) February 23, 2020
But apparently the line that Lovett called out is a callback to a time when the lights went out in the venue and supporters lit it up with their phones:
I loved the Boss' speech tonight.
It was a throwback to one of my favorite moments from the entire campaign—the moment when the lights went out, but the campaign kept shining. "If we can light up a high school gym—we can light a neighborhood." pic.twitter.com/yJ9TaMjvtd
— Stefan Smith (@TheStefanSmith) February 23, 2020
But still. That’s way too close to what Obama said.
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