PLAGIARISM? DAVIS' SPEECH READS LIKE CLINTON'S 10 YEARS AGO.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

In the opening of his State of the tate speech, Gov. Gray Davis used the same ideas and many of the same words that President Clinton used in his first State of the Union address - a similarity so striking that it prompted charges Thursday of plagiarism.

In his speech, seen by many as the most important of his career, Davis on Wednesday echoed themes Clinton had outlined 10 years earlier: In both cases, the politicians said the ailing economy demanded their full attention and that only a united effort could rescue the economy from its doldrums.

Davis even repeated one sentence verbatim. Referring to the economies of the United States in 1993 and California in 2003, both said, ``But these are not ordinary times.''

Steve Maviglio, Davis' spokesman, declined to comment. The governor's speech writer, Jason Kinney, dismissed the parallels as an ``accidental homage.''

But others who compared the two speeches said the similarities stand out too much to chalk up to coincidence.

``Wow,'' said Republican consultant Arnold Steinberg. ``It looks like they shared a plagiarist. It seems like for some unimaginative elected officials, they never serve in 'ordinary times.'

``I could say, It's the economy, stupid. Rather, one might say, It's the plagiarist, stupid.''

Clinton declined comment himself but his former speech writers took a forgiving attitude toward Davis.

The men who fashioned Clinton's speeches said Davis perhaps didn't so much steal Clinton's words as he was inspired by them.

``As it says in the Bible, there's nothing new under the sun,'' said David Kosmet, Clinton's lead speech writer from 1992 to 1994. ``Virtually every combination of words has been spoken or written at some time.''

Michael Waldman, Clinton's lead speech writer from 1995 to 1999, said both Clinton and Davis felt compelled to address the economy above all else. That they used similar rhetoric isn't surprising.

``Speakers tend to borrow from one another quite a bit,'' said Waldman, now a lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. ``Especially if you're talking about shared sacrifice in a time of budget austerity, there's only so many ways you can say that.''

Republican strategist Sal Russo said Davis' State of the State address seemed hastily assembled and that the governor's staff might have lifted whole quotes or thoughts from Clinton in their rush to finish the speech.

Russo, who worked on Bill Simon's unsuccessful campaign against Davis last year, said while the rhetoric might be similar, Clinton inherited a bad economy while Davis helped create one.

``I'm actually more offended by the principle than the plagiarism,'' Russo said.

Kinney, who wrote Davis' speech, said he read dozens of State of the Union and State of the State addresses in preparing to write Wednesday's speech.

He said he draws inspiration from a variety of sources but that he never lifts whole sentences or thoughts.

``Obviously we'd like to repeat President Clinton's economic progress in the last decade, but as for the rhetoric, it's an accidental homage,'' Kinney said.

Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches for two former presidents, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said Davis would be foolish to parrot another politician too closely because of the likelihood of getting caught.

And of all the sources to steal from, Clinton is an unlikely choice, she said.

``Clinton was a riveting and compelling personality and character - the speech giver was always interesting when Clinton spoke - but his speeches were by and large airy and inconsequential,'' she said.

``If Davis stole, wouldn't he steal better stuff - from JFK or (Lyndon) Johnson or whoever?''

In perhaps the most notorious recent example of political speech-lifting, Democratic U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden was forced to withdraw from the 1988 presidential race after revelations that he borrowed entire passages from a British politician without attribution.

Noonan and Kosmet said that since that episode, politicians and their handlers have been especially careful about avoiding the appearance of plagiarism.

``Most speech writers live in mortal fear of plagiarism,'' Kosmet said. ``Most of the time, you'll do a Web search and do everything you can to satisfy yourself that when you say something very good, it is original.''

But Kosmet said that since Davis' Clintonesque statements were neither particularly unique nor compelling, the governor's borrowing of some lines and ideas doesn't cross over into plagiarism.

Kinney said any suggestion that Davis' State of the State address has anything in common with the Biden scandal is so ridiculous that he won't comment about the similarities or differences.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, whose own bid for governor was crushed by Davis attack ads, wouldn't comment on the question of plagiarism.

He did, however, say that Davis' statement that ``these are not ordinary times'' - the same thing Clinton said in 1993 - is simply wrong.

``Unfortunately, these are ordinary times,'' Riordan said. ``What you see today is an extension of the antibusiness rules, regulations and laws in Sacramento that have scared businesses and jobs away from California.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) BILL CLINTON, 1993 STATE OF THE UNION:

(2 -- color) GRAY DAVIS, 2003 STATE OF THE STATE:

Box:

(1) BILL CLINTON, 1993 STATE OF THE UNION:

(2) GRAY DAVIS, 2003 STATE OF THE STATE:

(3) pla-gia-rize