Jobless claims hit Clinton staff

Well, I guess there’s one more unemployment statistic to report this morning. As I wrote yesterday on my companion blog, Tall and Rich, the government of Colombia fired Mark Penn, the chief strategist of the Clinton campaign, for double dealing on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement . It seems he was promoting the Colombian free Trade Agreement under their employ, while at the same time opposing it while in the employ of the Clinton campaign.

Well, this morning he lost his job with the Clinton campaign, too (Washington Times link) ;

Mark Penn, the pollster and senior strategist for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid, left the campaign yesterday after it was disclosed he met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote a free-trade agreement that Mrs. Clinton opposes.

“After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the Clinton Campaign,” campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement released yesterday. “Mark, and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign.”

I don’t know what he was thinking. I don’t know what anyone on that side is thinking, actually. How does a legitimate, rational person reconcile two opposing jobs?

The Associated Press writes;

Penn has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout the campaign and managed to retain considerable influence in the operation almost solely because of the candidate’s loyalty to him. He was known to get into angry shouting matches with other members of Clinton’s team, including longtime adviser Harold Ickes and media strategist Mandy Grunwald, who often disagreed with his strategic advice and resented his unchecked authority to design the candidate’s message.

So Clinton must have known he was playing both sides of the issue. (Washington Post link);

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Penn had met with Colombia’s ambassador to the United States to discuss promotion of a free-trade agreement, one that Clinton opposes. Penn apologized Friday for an “error in judgment,” and the Colombian government responded a day later by firing Burson-Marsteller.

Clinton and her husband, Bill Clinton, were furious with Penn for going to the meeting, campaign officials said. Trade has been a divisive issue in the Democratic race and a particularly significant one in Pennsylvania, the next state on the primary calendar. The senator from New York has pledged to take a “timeout” from free-trade agreements until their impact on the United States becomes clearer.

Oh, they’re mad at him for going to the meeting, but not for holding down two jobs diametrically opposed in reference to the issue.

I guess that figures since her stance on issues changes with her audience, too.

Category: Politics