Hillary Clinton's campaign just announced that her chief strategist, pollster Mark Penn, is leaving her campaign, a little more than two weeks before the critical Pennsylvania primary April 22.
The statement from campaign manager Maggie Williams reads: "After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the Clinton campaign; Mark, and [his company] Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign. Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson will coordinate the campaign's strategic message team going forward."
Those "events" are these: On Friday, Penn apologized for meeting with Colombian officials to push for a U.S. trade agreement with that country in his regular job, as CEO of Burson-Marsteller, a communications and lobbying firm. The problem is, Clinton opposes that deal.
Clinton's camp tried to make hay when a top Barack Obama adviser met with Canadian officials and reportedly offered reassurances that Obama's tough anti-NAFTA talk on the campaign trail was just that, talk. So Penn's meeting just plain looked bad.
Wolfson, of course, is Clinton's chief spokesman, and Garin is a prominent Democratic pollster. There's already been some finger-pointing at Penn in Clinton-land -- as you might expect toward the strategy guy when the once prohibitive favorite is fighting for her political life -- but the timing of his departure just sends all the wrong signals, both to voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere trying to figure out whether to stick with Clinton, and to those all-important super-delegates making up their minds too.
Craig Gordon
Comments (9)
They other shoe will drop. More HRC dishonesty to come
Mark Penn has finally seen the light of polling.
Now it is time for Joe Bruno & Joe Mondello to see the light to and resign.
It is to late for Hillary Soprano campaign, nothing can save it.
She has only herself to blame.
Bill told her not to run. But she would not listen.
He said we are on our way to becoming BILLIONAIRES FOR BUSH.
What more could you want.
Being a BILLIONAIRE FOR BUSH IS BETTER THAN BEING PRESIDENT.
IF YOU WIN, I CAN'T TALK AND MAKE MONEY.
So she ran and Bill did his thing to see that she losses.
So Joe & Joe please resign NOW, Join Mark Penn.
Give the Republicans a chance to WIN in November with NEW BLOOD.
But in the end you will be like HILARY SOPRANO and not see the trees in the forest or smell the roses.
VJ Machiaveli
Clinton's chief strategist, pollster Mark Penn Quits. Yet he "will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign".
He "quits", but will continue to do the same work as before. (and yet, he quits)(and yet he does the same work).
Just another Clinton-ism ...nothing's changed.
News flash. Hillary's farts judged to smell worse than Obama's. Super Delegates are jumping ship to avoid the stink. Hillary urged to quit before she stinks up the Demacrats chances in November. Obama is grinning from ear to ear but continues to insist that he personally can not smell them and as never heard Hillary fart.
Obama should do just like she did:
I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen.Clinton's name and see what you would do with this story… Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments.
Are the 'REAL RATS' leaving the 'sinking-ship' of HILLARY's fortune???? You know with all her good-deeds donations??? Ha!!! HILLARY 'the charitable'!!! Ha! SWEEP THIS 'WHITE-TRASH' with her pretend-husband into the gutter where they belong!!!
Hillary's free trade adviser's goes underground. Less transparency. Same old Hillary.
@VJ: "Give the Republicans a chance to WIN in November with NEW BLOOD."
Where's the so-called "new blood" the Republicans are putting up more of the same. This country needs change, it won't come from McCain.
McCain is New Blood compared to Hillary Soprano, and Obama.
Look behind them and who do you see ?
The same old democrats of tax and spend.
Don't be fooled by Obamas "Youth" he is a child of TAX and SPEND. He talks a very good game, but in the end, its the same old TAX and SPEND, only difference he is a better salesman than Hillary Soprano.