In a telephone interview on Sunday, Mr. Patrick said that he and Mr. Obama first talked about the attacks from their respective rivals last summer, when Mrs. Clinton was raising questions about Mr. Obama’s experience, and that they discussed them again last week.  Both men had anticipated that Mr. Obama’s rhetorical strength would provide a point of criticism. Mr. Patrick said he told Mr. Obama that he should respond to the criticism, and he shared language from his campaign with Mr. Obama’s speechwriters.  Mr. Patrick said he did not believe Mr. Obama should give him credit.  “Who knows who I am? The point is more important than whose argument it is,” said Mr. Patrick, who telephoned The New York Times at the request of the Obama campaign. “It’s a transcendent argument.”  David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Mr. Obama who also advised Mr. Patrick, said Sunday that Mr. Obama adapted the words from Mr. Patrick. Mr. Axelrod said that he did not write the words for either candidate.  “They often riff off one another. They share a world view,” Mr. Axelrod said. “Both of them are effective speakers whose words tend to get requoted and arguments tend to be embraced widely.”  The similarities from a passage of Mr. Obama’s speech on Saturday and in remarks that Mr. Patrick delivered on Oct. 15, 2006, were highlighted by a rival campaign that did not want to be identified. Clips of both speeches are archived on the Web site YouTube.com.  In their fight for the Democratic nomination, Mrs. Clinton has sought to turn one of Mr. Obama’s attributes — his oratory — against him by warning voters that his elevated language does not necessarily mean that he will deliver on his promises. “Speeches don’t put food on the table,” she told voters last week in Ohio, arguing that she offers solutions, not just rhetoric.  As Mr. Obama responded last week, his voice rose several decibels.  “It’s true that speeches don’t solve all problems,” he said. “But what is also true if we cannot inspire the country to believe again, it doesn’t matter how many policies and plans we have.”  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: An Obama Refrain Bears Echoes of a Governor’s Speeches. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Senator Barack Obama adapted the argument that his oratory amounts to more than inspiring words from speeches given by Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.