(CBS) 
CBSNews.com: Do you think the Oprah Winfrey endorsement of Senator Obama will actually have an effect, unlike most endorsements, which tend not to matter?

Mark Penn: I’m sure the endorsement will help him raise funds. And we all love to get great endorsements. But I don't think it will be a substantial help either way in his vote-getting campaign.

CBSNews.com: Turning a bit to some of the news from this week, does the public like a message from General Petraeus that they don't like from President Bush? Is it different coming from him?

Mark Penn: Well, General Petraeus is a distinguished general. But so far, the public feels very strongly that it's time to start bringing home troops from Iraq. And the various polls that I've seen from the news media are showing that they're not changing their minds on that.

CBSNews.com: Did your campaign learn anything from the Hsu donation controversy?

Mark Penn: Well, the campaign has returned not only his money, but the money he raised. And it's putting in another level of vetting to try to ensure that things like this never happen again.

CBSNews.com: When you hear Republicans say that Hillary is the only candidate who will really energize their base, what's your response to that?

Mark Penn: Well, first of all, I think they're looking for a Republican candidate to energize their base, and they haven't found one. And perhaps they're admitting that. I think that the experience with Senator Clinton is that she won two landslide elections. And I think the likely experience is that she will reach out and bring over a tremendous number of Democratic, independent, and some Republican voters, especially Republican women, over to her side.

And I think she has the potential to really expand the voting base in the country. Because I think the first woman president as a possibility will generate a tremendous number of new voters who haven't been much interested in politics before, coming in to vote for Hillary Clinton for the first time.

CBSNews.com: President Clinton won in 1992 and 1996 with well over 300 electoral votes. Obviously, Al Gore and John Kerry were less successful. Can you think of particular states where Senator Clinton would expand the appeal of Democrats?

Mark Penn: The polls right now are showing her running very strong nationally, and the state by state polls show her even or ahead in places like Ohio and Florida, which would be some of the biggest prizes. I think she has a very strong base in Arkansas. I believe that both Southwestern states, and also Iowa, are very good states for her.

And just today [Wednesday], there's a poll out from Rasmussen showing her ahead of the Republicans in Virginia. So the polls are coming back now from all sorts of states that people previously thought she could not win and show that because people are focusing on her strength and experience to be president, and on her message of change, that's reaching right across states, whether they're South, North, East or West.

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Mark Penn serves as Worldwide President and CEO of Burson-Marsteller, a global PR firm, and president of the polling shop Penn, Schoen, and Berland, which he began in 1975 as an undergraduate at Harvard. Penn has worked on more than two dozen political campaigns in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe--including for President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Penn won the Pollster of the Year Award from the American Association of Political Consultants in 1996 and 2000--and has served as Senator Clinton's chief strategist since 1999.

By Brian Goldsmith
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