Internet message boards noted Friday that President Obama’s most memorable line from his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, "I’m the president" may have been lifted from the 1995 movie The American President.
In the movie’s climax, the fictitious liberal president Andrew Shepherd, portrayed by Michael Douglas, takes the podium at a White House press briefing and blasts his Republican opponent Bob Rumson for criticizing his moral integrity on the campaign trail.
In the movie, Shepherd concludes his speech (and the film) by mocking his opponent’s signature tagline emphatically stating, "My name is Andrew Shepherd and I am the president."
See clip below:
Last night the all-too-real liberal president Barack Obama, portrayed by Barack Obama, took the stage to attack his Republican opponent Mitt Romney and struck an all too similar note in his poorly received speech at the DNC:
Both presidents were at similar points in their respective political careers, facing the home stretch of competitive reelection campaigns.
Both presidents also needed to show a doubtful public that they had the guts to stand up to enemies.
Both presidents also left the line hanging for theatrical effect.
Aaron Sorkin, the movie’s screenwriter, has spent a significant portion of his career writing movies and television shows rooted in American politics. Because of this, he has gained many followers in the White House.