BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Well, it seems that the Colombian government did what Hillary Clinton would not.  They fired Mark Penn. 

Last Monday Mark Penn met with the Colombian ambassador to the United States to discuss the best way to push a bilateral trade deal.  Both Obama and Clinton have said they opposed such deals.  Okay, if it had been anyone but Mark Penn the meeting probably would have gone unnoticed.  But, Mark Penn is Hillary Clinton’s campaign adviser.

Perhaps, Mr. Penn thought it was okay to butter his bread on both sides, but even a tiny tot knows that gets your hands messy.  And so it was with Mark Penn.  He was getting that sticky feeling from both sides of the deal.  Even though I have not seen or read anything about Senator Clinton’s response to the situation, the situation came under question by everyone who is keeping up with the candidates.

Mark Penn apologized.  It’s always easier to apologize than get permission.  And, without much doubt, the Clinton campaign would not have said “yeah, go ahead.”  Penn has called the faux pas an “error in judgment”.  The rest of us call it greed. 

According to Politico

Penn said his visit to Colombia was for his other job, as chief executive of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. But the Journal reported that a spokesman for the Colombian government was unsure in what capacity Penn appeared.

In truth, we are still unsure in what capacity he appeared.  We know he would never confess to appearing on behalf of Clinton, even if the possibility of such could be true.  Mark Penn has become somewhat of a distraction for the Clinton campaign.  This isn’t his first foray into personal business on behalf of clients for whom he lobbies.  And, yeah, everyone has to earn a living.  With reports that Clinton’s campaign is falling behind on payments, maybe Mr. Penn saw the need to earn income for his mortgage payment.  Who knows?

How much has Penn cost the Clinton campaign?  Well, not in dollars, but in possible endorsements and votes…

Change to Win, a labor powerhouse made up of the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union and other unions, called for Penn’s resignation Friday. Last summer, Burson-Marsteller’s advocacy on behalf of the Cintas Corp., which opposed efforts to unionize the company, led the leaders of Teamsters and Unite Here to call for Clinton to “rein in” Penn for “working for anti-union companies.”

Change to Win has endorsed Obama.

Maybe as an excuse for his actions or maybe to protect the Clinton campaign, Penn has tried to distance himself from the campaign somewhat, but that too has been challenged.

Recently, Penn caused a stir when he told The New York Observer that he has “absolutely no budget authority or any administrative control,” which was widely perceived as an effort to distance himself from a sinking campaign.

The comment led another senior adviser, Harold Ickes, to tell the Observer that, “Besides Hillary Clinton, [Penn] is the single most responsible person for this campaign.”

Through February, Clinton’s presidential campaign paid $11 million to Penn, Schoen & Berland, and the campaign owed the company another $2.5 million, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Okay… so Penn has his mortgage covered.  Now, he seems to be trying to cover his ass or maybe he’s trying to force Clinton to pay him the rest of what he is owed.

Either way, it seems that the Clinton campaign, Hillary in particular, would have taken up the issue and perhaps fired Penn before the Colombians did.  Or, not.

In an effort to be somewhat less suspicious about the latest Clinton campaign stumble, I must say that Mr. Penn may have been working solely with the Colombians and that the deal was unknown to Clinton.  However, we all know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the appearance of impropriety is as damning as is reality.