Barack Obama has been accused of “plagiarizing” others’ campaign speeches, including those of his friend, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Whether or not absorbing phrases from friends — or even opponents — constitutes rhetorical pillaging or benign borrowing, everyone does it, and videos have been popping up to prove it. On a similar note, know your campaign talking points!

Also, “Yes We Can” is continuing to inspire some very, very bad songwriting.

So today we bring you a favorites list in two parts: War of the Words and Very, Very Bad Songs.

WAR OF THE WORDS

Just Words. Just not Obama’s.

Obama does a close reading of a line once delivered by his friend and the national co-chair of his campaign, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. One of the first videos to emerge during the whole plagiarism kerfuffle, it’s been viewed 385,000 times on YouTube.

Hillary Clinton says “Yes we will!”

Hillary Clinton picks up a certain line from a certain somebody, adds a twist of the future tense, and tries to make it her own. Viewed more than 130,000 times on YouTube.

“Hardball” Way Too Hard for Obama Supporter Kirk Watson

I wouldn’t want to be Texas State Sen. Kirk Watson right now. He went on Chris Matthews’ Hardball to talk about Barack Obama, but when asked to name Obama’s legislative accomplishments he came up blank. Ouch. About 66,000 views of this version; there are a bunch of others out there too.

Obama vs Clinton Hollywood Democratic Debate 2

A YouTuber interviewed some Obama supporters waiting to watch this month’s Democratic debate in Los Angeles, apparently looking to stump them about Obama’s accomplishments. But this guy knows what he’s talking about, and more than held his own despite persistent questioning (“socialized medicine…”). Someone give this guy Kirk Watson’s job! More than 370,000 views on YouTube.

VERY, VERY BAD SONGS

The Huck Dance

Most of these pro-candidate songs have a vaguely disco-ish, shopping-for-my-toothpaste-in-Walgreens feel to them. “Voting, keep voting, we want to win this soooo bad!” sings our soulful Huck-fan. Almost 17,000 views on YouTube.

Hillary-Making Our Dreams Come True

Less Walgreens-rock and more Laverne and Shirley. In case you have hard time following, the words flow along the bottom (where’s the bouncing ball?). Viewed about 46,000 times on YouTube.

the times they are a changin’, aka happy president’s day

This actually isn’t bad, but it’s a song (sort of) from the guy who brought us Mike Gravel’s Power to the People. This time Gravel reads parts of the Dylan classic and gives a weird monologue about Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky. The Gravel campaign and their friends continue to churn out the most entertaining campaign-generated videos of the election. More than 33,000 views on YouTube.