Mark Penn Downplays Resignation on Call-Will Still Play a Direct Advisory Role

[mod mom]

Mark Penn Speaks (In Private): Will Still Advise Clintons, Calms Nervous Aides

April 7, 2008 05:08 PM


Mark Penn, who resigned over the weekend as the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, went into full damage control mode on Monday, hosting a conference call with Burson Marsteller's managing directors to persuade them that the fallout from his resignation was both overblown and would soon pass.

Peppered with questions from colleagues -- one mentioned her "pretty panicked client," another asked bluntly, "Ultimately did you think that it was the best thing for the company ?" -- Penn insisted that "the situation has played itself out."

But he confirmed that while his title with the campaign had changed -- and his work load would undoubtedly decrease -- he still would play a direct advisory role for Clinton.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/07/penn-speaks-in-private-wi_n_95508.html

[tekisui]

1. Let's keep the story alive, then.

PA unions need to push for him to be FIRED!!! Outright. Hillary is so dense to not realize he is dragging her down.

[mod mom]

3. This AM NPR discussed his UNION BUSTING ties. this is what needs to be discussed!

[tekisui]

4. Yes! And the fact that she keeps him employed!

And that she ever hired him! It tells me more about her than that low-life Penn.

[bobthedrummer]

21. Murdering and torturing union organizers-yep that's what he ORGANIZES in Central and South America.

Lots of PROFIT in that.

"Know Your DLC: Current DLC Leadership Team and other Democratic leadership Council links"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5396391

[Window]

18. Please. Let him stay and inflict more damage on her campaign.

[IDemo]

2. I'm SHOCKED to hear this!

Where's that damned bookbag?

[mod mom]

5. Headline at Huff Po:

"Exclusive: Clinton's Ex-Chief Strategist Downplays Resignation On Company Call"

[Cali_Democrat]

6. Good news for Obama!!!

Hmmm....having a direct adviser that is lobbying for a free trade agreement on behalf of the Colombian Govt.

America has had many of these free trade agreements with these 3rd world countries.

What ends up happening? 30 dollar an hour jobs go to poor countries for 2 dollars an hour. The workers in those countries are exploited and are basically forced to work for a multi-national corporation at the barrel of a gun.

Our trade deficit continues to spiral at an even faster pace, the dollar falls as a result, inflation increases and middle class American become poorer.

[LSparkle]

10. And in the midst of the Pennsylvania primary, no less ...

Like Ohio, PA has been hard hit by NAFTA ... Obama has a golden opportunity here
which I hope he capitalizes on (unlike during the Ohio contest, when the whole
Canada story kept him from being able to use the trade issue against her).

[roguevalley]

13. she is either stupid, clueless or arrogant. no other possibility.

mindless loyalty is a bush thing. you can see what hanging with the bushes has done.

[BeyondGeography]

7. What a twit

Don't worry, I'm still on the inside! I still have access!

The Clintons will never be rid of this guy. It's like Rove "leaving" Bush.

[LSparkle]

8. This shows a serious lack of judgment on her part ...

She has the opportunity to sever ties with him and "clean up" her campaign, yet she
doesn't take advantage of this, choosing instead of keep him on (even though his "strategy"
has been shown not to work). She obviously thinks this is no big deal -- otherwise she
would have cut him off immediately.

[baldguy]

9. He's not resigning; he's just wearing a different hat.

Same old same old.

[DerekJ]

11. K & R

[tbyg52]

12. If this isn't the last straw for her candidacy, what would be....? nt

[Lucky 13]

16. A straightjacket.

[SunsetDreams]

14. yes, we all knew that was the case

They think they are so slick, MSM is calling them on it too.

[Lucky 13]

15. God DAMN that is stupid. WHY does she hold on to him?

This one's going to burn her.

[Forkboy]

17. LOL...the gift that keeps on giving.

[samsingh]

19. Hillary needs to send him away fast

[bobthedrummer]

20. Because they are part of the Bush Family Evil Empire/BFEE. "The Activities at Mena"

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MENA/mena.html

"Cooking the Insurance Books: A Decade of Lax Regulation Lays Groundwork for Scandal" by Lucy Komisar (11-17-2004 Corp Watch)
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11657

"Gray Money" by the staff of the Ozark Gazette (archived at whatreallyhappened.com)
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MENA/gray_money.html

[mod mom]

22. IF YOU STILL DOUBT CLINTON SUPPORTS FREE TRADE READ THIS NYT PIECE:

Sorry for the shout, but I can't post it (limit 3-so if someone else would like to please do):

Lobby for Colombia Trade Pact Casts a Wide Net

By ERIC LIPTON and STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: April 8, 2008


WASHINGTON — There have been all-expense paid trips to Colombia for more than 50 members of Congress, featuring coffee tastings and dinner at a posh restaurant inside an old Spanish fort. The Colombian president has visited Washington to make personal appeals. Major corporations like WalMart and Citigroup are taking up the cause. And former Clinton administration officials have landed lucrative lobbying contracts.



This barrage of activity is over the trade pact that cost Mark Penn, a top adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his job over the weekend. Mr. Penn had been working for a presidential primary candidate opposed to the trade deal with Colombia, while also running a public relations firm hired by the Colombian government to promote it.

The debate has been quietly brewing ever since the Bush administration finished negotiating the pact to ease trade restrictions in late 2006. Human rights groups and labor leaders have urged Congress to put off considering the deal or to reject it outright, citing paramilitary violence against labor activists in Colombia.

-snip

The ties between the lobbying firms and the Clinton campaign illustrate the complexity of Washington’s political world, where players are often switching positions or playing multiple roles. While Mr. Wolfson has taken a leave from Glover Park, for example, he still has equity in the firm valued at $500,000 to $1 million, according to a disclosure form.

-snip
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/washington/08lobby.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1207653609-nzmdGg8ulZe8COfEGwwX9g

WORTH READING ENTIRE ARTICLE! IT'S ALL A GAME AND MONEY IS THE KEY TO THEIR ALLIANCES.

[OzarkDem]

25. Clinton will run for re-election as POTUS

She's not about to jeapordize her chances for re-election by going back on her opposition to a free trade agreement w/ Columbia. What could possibly be worth the risk? Is Columbia a potential giant trading partner? No.

No doubt this deal meant more to Penn's clients than it means to Clinton herself. This stuff is speculation and sour grapes from Obama supporters who are upset that she has turned her back on Penn and his free trade consulting deals.

[bobthedrummer]

23. k

[OzarkDem]

24. Obama supporters upset

because they won't have Penn to kick around any more. :rofl:

Clinton has already replaced Penn with advisors from her senate campaigns. She's moving on full speed ahead. Penn can go do whatever he wants. The Clinton campaign doesn't really need him anymore.

[bobthedrummer]

26. That's because HRC has those well established criminal networks

to draw from, like those of Jorge Cabrera, Ng Lap Seng, Chung Lo, Vadim Rabinovich, Grigory Loutchansky, Aslan Abashidze, in addition to Tony and Hugh Rodham and her husband's many hook-ups. All doing business with the sanction of the BFEE.