McCain-Feingold makes me more than a little unhappy about voting for McCain. I am not sure the alternative would be better. In the otherwise deeply uninteresting plagiarism story about Obama, this little bit caught my notice.

Obama's campaign had Patrick call the New York Times over the weekend and issue a statement.

"Senator Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language," Patrick said in the statement. "The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Senator Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did."

The Obama campaign also confirmed comments chief strategist David Axelrod -- an adviser on Obama's Senate campaign and Patrick's gubernatorial run -- made to the New York Times about the speeches.

"They often riff off one another. They share a world view," Axelrod told the Times about Obama and Patrick.