the Machiavellian i feel your pain, clinton dog and pony act, we have
seen this before, clinton help american so much with nafta, gatt, the
w.t.o., and much destruction via deregulation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080409/pl_bloomberg/am7gjau6iwgi_1
Clinton Adviser Penn Is Flash Point as Unions Pounce
Lorraine Woellert
1 hour, 6 minutes ago
April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Penn continues to roil Hillary Clinton's
presidential campaign after the announcement that he was being
replaced as top strategist for helping Colombia promote a trade
accord.
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As Clinton rival Barack Obama and his trade-union allies use Penn's
business associations to stoke sup****t among voters going into the
April 22 Pennsylvania primary, Penn still participates in campaign
strategy calls, conducts polling, dispenses advice and manages
Clinton's direct-mail operation.
The situation has caused tension within Clinton's camp, which said on
April 6 that veteran pollster Geoff Garin and Communications Director
Howard Wolfson would take over the strategic reins.
``Geoff Garin is someone I've known for 30 years,'' said James
Carville, who managed Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. ``If
they think they're going to let him be used in some bait-and-switch
campaign, they're mistaken.''
With 10 state primary contests remaining, Clinton trails Obama in the
popular vote and among delegates to the party's nominating convention
in August. Pennsylvania is a must-win state for her, and the Penn
controversy, if it lingers, may damage her court****p of blue-collar
workers.
``This will only fuel the Clinton-in-disarray narrative, an untimely
blow as Pennsylvania looms,'' said Rogan Kersh, a professor of public
service at New York University.
`Error in Judgment'
The campaign said it stripped Penn of part of his ****tfolio after the
Colombian government fired Burson-Marsteller, the public relations
firm where he is chief executive officer. Penn had met with Colombian
officials to help them push the free- trade deal, which Clinton
opposes. He later apologized, calling the meeting an ``error in
judgment.'' Colombia, in dismissing him, said he showed a ``lack of
respect.''
Obama, 46, and his sup****ters are working hard to keep the Penn dustup
alive. Teamsters President James Hoffa, who is touring Pennsylvania
this week, is citing what he calls Penn's pro-trade and anti-worker
clientele to attack Clinton's credibility.
``She has to sever completely with Mark Penn,'' Hoffa said in a
telephone interview. ``Her credibility is at stake.''
The issue may resonate in the state's industrial centers, such as
Harrisburg, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, where a dogfight between the
candidates is shaping up, Hoffa said.
Clinton, 60, campaigning today in Hopewell, Pennsylvania, said the
brouhaha over Penn won't hurt her in the state. ``I don't see why it
should,'' she told re****ters.
`Strong Opponent'
She said she has been a ``consistent and strong opponent of the
Colombia free-trade deal,'' which President George W. Bush sent
yesterday to Congress for approval.
Wolfson noted earlier that Obama's top economic adviser, Austan
Goolsbee, met with Canadian officials in February after the North
American Free Trade Agreement emerged as a campaign issue. A Canadian
memo said Goolsbee told the Canadians that Obama's public pledge to
force a renegotiation of Nafta was ``political positioning,'' the
Associated Press re****ted. Goolsbee said his remarks were
misinterpreted.
``It's just more hypocrisy from the Obama campaign,'' Wolfson said.
``He should be worrying about his own house.''
Wolfson said Penn's role with the campaign is diminished. ``It's the
difference between someone who is playing the key role and someone
playing an im****tant role,'' Wolfson said.
Clinton said there wasn't ``any connection'' between her campaign and
what Penn did ``in his independent business capacity.''
Penn didn't respond to requests for comment yesterday.
Ties to Companies
Labor groups for at least a year have been raising concerns about
Penn's ties to companies with agendas that diverge from Clinton's.
The Teamsters and Unite Here, a textile union, last June wrote a
letter to Clinton's Senate office questioning Penn's role in light of
Burson-Marsteller's work advising Cintas Corp., a uniform-rental
company, on how to thwart a union's organizing effort.
Penn, 54, has also worked counter to Clinton's position on the
environment and energy. Last year, he wrote in an internal company
blog about how Burson worked ``behind the scenes'' for TXU Corp., a
Texas company seeking to build power plants fueled by pulverized coal,
which some environmentalists say would be major polluters.
At the time, Clinton was pu****ng for more research into new energy
technologies to help stem greenhouse gases and reduce dependence on
foreign oil. Other Burson clients include tobacco companies and
drugmakers.
Dual Roles
Penn's work on the political and private-sector sides of the fence
isn't new to Wa****ngton. Most consultants, however, take leave from
advising companies to avoid conflicts with their political clients.
David Axelrod had cor****ate clients before joining Obama's campaign as
chief strategist, as did Mark McKinnon, top adviser to presumptive
Republican nominee John McCain.
Wolfson, who holds an equity stake in Glover Park Group, a public
relations shop that won its own contract with the Colombian government
after Wolfson took a leave of absence to join Clinton, said the Penn
controversy will blow over.
``Voters care about what candidates are going to do in office, not who
works in their campaigns,'' Wolfson said.
To contact the re****ter on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Wa****ngton
at lwoellert@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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