Penn: Never Out, Still In

Demoted Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn may no longer have the coveted title of chief strategist, but he remains a key member of the campaign's senior staff.

Mr. Penn took part on the campaign's morning message call this morning, as usual.

This afternoon, he is also scheduled to be on a call with Clinton and other aides to begin to prepare for Saturday's presidential debate in Philadelphia.

Mr. Penn "is still going to be very much involved," a senior campaign official said.

Indeed, it is not clear precisely what Mr. Penn's title-change entails, other than a public rebuke, although the official said that "there is a difference between being in charge and being one of many voices."

Comments

This was a publicity stunt to push far more damaging stories out of the headlines...Hillary saying she was against Iraq before Obama was, Hillary's whopper about the pregnant woman, Tax return stories, etc...

She knew the media would take the bait and they did.

Bait and switch, it's so obvious..

The media are a bunch of suckers...

Posted by RKA | April 7, 2008 1:52 PM

"Worldwide chief strategist," please.

I was going to say they wouldn't let him talk on phone calls anymore, but fortunately I read the rest of the post. Huh.

Hasn't this put a spike in the effigy-burning and marshmallow-roasting at Clinton headquarters? I feel sorry for the low-level staffers....Though of course selfishly pleased that my pleas to retain Mark have worked better than I'd dared hope.

Posted by Deborah | April 7, 2008 2:07 PM

So, in other words, it was all a crass political move that was designed to appease union workers in PA.

Meanwhile, nothing really changes.

Posted by John B. | April 7, 2008 2:15 PM

So he didn't really get fired.

It was just a public relations stunt.

Typical Clintons.

Can we get this over with soon?

It's still shocking that so many other fine democrats still support these liars.

Posted by Joy to the World | April 7, 2008 2:15 PM

It's interesting. In the last few days, Hillary is making all of the most vociferous arguments against her (no integrity, dishonest, untrustworthy) all by herself.

Posted by Craig | April 7, 2008 2:18 PM

the Clintons can't even FIRE someone competently!

don't you know that once you let someone go, you can't let them keep showing up?

Posted by rob! | April 7, 2008 2:19 PM

I really can't believe this. It's a joke, right? Say you're kidding us, Marc.

Posted by Amy | April 7, 2008 2:44 PM

It ain't over yet on those tax returns. Reporters who were lying in wait for the release of those returns aren't going to just go away. They're probably thankful for the extra time to continue sifting through them and checking things out. We're still going to hear about them, no matter what they find or don't find -- count on it.

Posted by Julia | April 7, 2008 3:00 PM

Anyone see the polls:

Gallup up by 9.

Rass up by 10.

RCP up by almost 7.

Posted by heather | April 7, 2008 3:14 PM

He can't be fired. He's worldwide.

Posted by Mike | April 7, 2008 3:20 PM

"title change", (semi)public rebuke, union (BS) appeasment, PR stunt, etc....

ALL a smoke screen, to cloak their next 'attack'.

She's right about one thing, 'Actions DO speak lowuder than words.'

Posted by Kenneth E. Tucker | April 7, 2008 3:38 PM

Virtual Reality: Experience, stories, management, Bosnia, NAFTA, Iraq, winning by Feb 5th, Florida and Michigan, rules. Clinton is not dishonest; really. There is something else going on here.

Posted by Dan | April 7, 2008 4:00 PM

Virtual Reality: Experience, stories, management, Bosnia, NAFTA, Iraq, winning by Feb 5th, Florida and Michigan, rules. Clinton is not dishonest; really. There is something else going on here.

Posted by Dan | April 7, 2008 4:00 PM

Hey Pennsylvania blue collar workers... Hillary didn't fire Mark Penn or Burson Marsteller. They still represent the ANTI UNION New Era cap company. Columbia was more upset at their loss of access than anything else. And Hillary is lying to you yet again. How's it feel?

Posted by kravitz | April 7, 2008 4:27 PM

From "Head of State"

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/04/mark-down.html

"Sunday, April 06, 2008
Mark Down

...but not out:

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 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.

Clinton campaign statement, via the Nation."

Cite:
"Head of State"
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/04/mark-down.html

Posted by Robert Hewson | April 7, 2008 4:27 PM

Looks like more BS from Hillaryland -- once again trying to have it both ways.

What I find most remarkable about Penn is that he's the perfect case study of a D.C. axiom -- once you reach a certain level in the political-lobbyist-industrial complex, you can become too incompetent to fail.

For example: His strategic advice to Hillary is probably the #2 reason why she lost the race (Barack Obama's brilliance as a candidate being #1), and his utter lack of ethical standards led to his "downfall," such as it is.

Yet he can cry all the way to the bank. His firm has already pocketed more than $10 million from the campaign (and I'll bet it's not one of the vendors that's being stiffed). It will continue to be paid the big bucks for polling and, presumably, for Penn's continued incompetent analysis. He'll continue earning a seven-figure salary at B.M. (the perfect acronym) representing union-busters, corrupt foreign governments and corporate scoundrels like Blackwater. And he'll keep peddling business by telling current and prospective clients how much access they'll have through him if Hillary somehow gets elected.

Penn shows that once you reach a certain level in the bizarre world of Washington, D.C., there is no such thing as accountability and you can keep raking in the bucks no matter what.

Posted by Moose49 | April 7, 2008 4:45 PM

Another ploy to hoodwink the Pennsylvania voters. Penn voters, open your eyes and ears and pay attention! Do you really believe when the Clinton campaign says they are on the blue collar workers side? Think again, Mark Penn still runs the show and Hillary &Co are pulling the wool over your eyes.

Posted by magenta | April 7, 2008 5:49 PM

Do you think it's like that Seinfeld episode, where George quit but acted like nothing had happened and went back to work the following Monday?

Posted by JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin | April 7, 2008 5:49 PM

As this gets picked up and chewed over around the blogosphere, it's mildly boggling: The obvious way to make it appear his role is much-diminished and all-but-gone is to keep him off the phone and away from all press for several weeks.

Did he have letterhead that said "Chief Campaign Strategist"? We know from his pre-Texas flight preparations that no one at the campaign reports to him. What sort of message does taking his title away send?

HRC: "When one of my staff deeply embarrasses me, especially in a way that I have explicitly condemned within the past month, I will act quickly (okay, slowly) to respond in the strongest possible terms. That person will be forced to think up a new title."

Posted by Deborah | April 7, 2008 7:28 PM

Notice how scripted the media and the Dems are about the actual wording concerning Penn; they never once use the word resign. Which brings me again to this Hillary story. A leopard never changes her spots. I go back to Mr. Zeifman firing Hillary. As you may know, Jerry Zeifman fired Hillary for unethical practices during the Watergate Investigation. Why was Hillary fired? “Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in a recent interview. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”

Zeifman’s story is important. Not only does it go to character, it goes to a lifelong pattern of lying and obfuscation. And, it took Zeifman twelve years to get it aired. After Watergate, Zeifman could not recommend Hillary for any subsequent position of public or private trust, nor furnish her with a letter of recommendation. Again, Hillary Clinton is a bold-faced liar, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Should anyone doubt Mr. Zeifman's veracity regarding the Clintons: http://theseedsof9-11.com

The Clintons corrupted the soul of the Democratic Party. -Henry Ruth, Watergate prosecutor.

Posted by Peggy McGilligan | April 7, 2008 7:56 PM

After all Hillary gaffes, if voters still vote for Hillary after the Penn gaffe I will not hold anymore and say: VOTERS ARE STUPID. And that worries me. Voters will be saying "It is ok to lie to us" and "We want another Bush (Stubborn, Liar, Lobbyist driven, loyalty driven...)"

Wake up people

Posted by Lino | April 7, 2008 8:02 PM

I wonder if that whole charade yesterday was more about trying to distance Hillary from Penn because they knew that Bush was going to push the Colombia FTA today and it would have looked really embarassing for Clinton because Penn got caught meeting with them and planning this last week.

Typical Clinton's. Typical. It is really actually just so Bush. Don't change anything but the perception. Give it a new name. That's the ticket. You know, you can only get away with that for so long and after a while you get found out.

Hillary better quit now while she still has the old white lady vote. She can be their hero forever. Just don't her anywhere near the White House. Because I bet that the 50% that don't like her now will stay 50% and it will only go downhill from there. She's been at 50% disapproval since 1992, it's not going to change and if she is in charge it will only get worse.

Oh, and I can't wait for her to be President because they are going to keep up this mendacious double-speak crap and then they will sick Howard Wolfson on anyone that gives them bad press. Change my name with Bush, they'll say. Why won't I get the same good press that Bush got? Well it's a good question, but the real answer is that she will enter the White House with no good will whatsover with anybody.

Posted by Bubba | April 7, 2008 10:15 PM

Good old Mark Penn....sticking around Hill's
campaign like dog-s**t sticks to your shoes.
You can't get rid of crap like this. The point
is that Hillary is surrounded by many Penn
types....Wolfson, Williams, Blumenthal, Carville,
the bottom of the ethical barrel....oh, and
let's not forget Billy Jeff. Let's hope he feels
her pain, in spades.

Posted by hombre | April 8, 2008 12:03 AM

Doesn't it concern anyone that Hillary Clinton's so-called "Chief Campaign Strategist" was working as a foreign agent?

Posted by DaveK | April 8, 2008 1:34 AM

So once again the Clintons prove it is very easy to manipulate the media, and once again they will probably falsely think that equates with political success.

Posted by DTM | April 8, 2008 4:53 AM

So once again the Clintons prove it is very easy to manipulate the media, and once again they will probably falsely think that equates with political success.

Posted by DTM | April 8, 2008 4:53 AM

Media reports: Mark Penn steps down -- which gives the false impression that he is no longer affiliated with the Clinton campaign. False. It is Missleading, a disservice and Dishonest for the Media to claim that Mark Penn has been fired or has stepped down or that he will not be affilated with the campaign. Maggie Williams' statement is "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 Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign. " From the following statement it is accurate for the Media to say he has been DEMOTED!

In a lack of their duty to inform, some in the media fail to question Hillary, when they do an interview with her or her campaign staff, why he Penn, is still on morning conference calls, if he has stepped down, but some in media rather dismiss this question, as if he has really gone. This is a derelict of the Media's duty to the Public! We must Hold the Media Accountable, we are a million strong!

There are some true reporters, however, like Candy Crowley and Linda Douglas and others, who report this charade for what it is -- a minor Demotion in title only, yet his duties will still be the same. If they say he has stepped down, then he should step down for Real, not be on Morning Conference Calls. However, THAT IS NOT WHAT MAGGIE WILLIAMS SAID, "he has been asked to" GIVE UP HIS TITLE, BUT HE WILL STILL ADVISE!

Posted by Angellight | April 8, 2008 8:35 AM

Are we living in a "Groundhog Day" reality? Seems every day, I wake up, I hop on the computer, and lo and behold... "Hillary Clinton Lied About Something" is the subtext of any number of articles. It's so like Bush, it's sickening- every day, she shows herself to be less-than-honest, manipulative, phony, misleading, calculating, obstinate, and power-hungry. I could go on. And yet her supporters are just as blind as the 28% of the country who still support ol' Dubya. It's fucking maddening I tell you.

And to think I would have GLADLY voted for her for President, only a few weeks ago. Thanks, Hillary (and Bill), for showing your true colors, and preventing me from having a guilty conscience at some point in the future.

Case in point- Did anyone see her well-rehearsed response to the question: "Where were you when you heard MLK was assassinated?" As Jon Stewart said, "She'd convince me more if she were trying to convince me less" (or something close to it).

The point being, it was rehearsed. Many, many, many times. Her campaign is so driven by polling and focus-groups, and fine-tuning messages...it's so damn FAKE, it's a wonder more people (her supporters) don't see it.

Thanks Marc, keep up the good work.

And "Peggy", that "Seeds_of_9_11" website is so poorly written, I couldn't get beyond the first paragraph. Whoever wrote that needs to learn basic grammar, basic paragraph structure, basic logic, because, basically, it sucks. Sorry. But thanks for the effort.

Posted by colinjames | April 8, 2008 12:35 PM