DENVER. - Sen. Joseph Biden’s candidacy for vice president took a rocky turn Tuesday when he plagiarized a speech given by the man who tapped him to serve as his running mate, Barack Obama.

But the Obama camp breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out that the Obama speech Biden plagiarized was one that Obama himself had plagiarized from Biden.

Some political pundits worry that the Obama-Biden ticket may not be sufficiently balanced because both men have been plagued with high-profile charges of plagiarism. Earlier this year, Obama reportedly plagiarized a 2006 speech given by Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick.  In 1987, Biden famously plagiarized a speech by British Labour leader Neil Kinnock.  Obama campaign staffers say they hope the men will continue to steal from each other instead of from third parties.

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