Doubts Remain After Mark Penn's Exit

Washington Post: Clinton Aide's New Role Looks To Some Like The Old One

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Anne E. Kornblut.

---

The question for some staff members of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign yesterday was why it had taken her so long to remove Mark J. Penn as its chief strategist.

But other aides wondered how the campaign will function without Penn. And despite the announcement Sunday that he is giving up his strategist role, it remain to be seen how removed he will be. Penn was on a top-level conference call yesterday, one insider said; he is helping Clinton (N.Y.) prepare for the next Democratic debate, on April 16; and his firm, Penn Schoen & Berland Associates, will continue to conduct some polling for the campaign.

Penn had been the target of criticism for many months and had warred with others in the campaign's inner circle. His departure was rumored in January after Clinton lost the Iowa caucuses, as part of a general housecleaning that appeared imminent until she unexpectedly won the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8. Even after Clinton changed campaign managers in February, ousting longtime confidante Patti Solis Doyle and installing her former White House chief of staff, Maggie Williams, some advisers thought Penn should be moved out of his chief strategist role. But Clinton did not take any such action.

Williams is "doing what she has wanted to do all along, just in her own time," the insider said. "She couldn't get rid of Mark until he gave her the rope" with which to hang him. That was his meeting with the Colombian ambassador to the United States to discuss promotion of a free trade treaty that Clinton opposes.

The timing of Penn's meeting came at a particularly inappropriate time, just as Clinton was trying to win the support of the United Steelworkers of America, who had earlier endorsed former senator John Edwards (N.C.) and has not picked between Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) since Edwards left the race. As one official at the union put it, "There's no way Mark Penn's departure can be a negative with our members."

Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who is not associated with the Clinton or Obama campaign, said he doubts Penn's new role will mean significant changes.

"We are very near the end of the race, and the course has largely been set," he said by e-mail yesterday. "The new message mavens may tack 10 degrees one way or the other, but it's just too late for any wholesale changes in message or strategy. "

In her announcement on Sunday, Williams said that longtime communications director Howard Wolfson and pollster Geoff Garin, a relatively new recruit to the operation, will share the role of chief strategist. "I think it's more accurate to say there is no chief strategist, other than the candidate," said one Clinton loyalist, speaking candidly on the condition of anonymity.

More than a year ago, reports began surfacing of potential conflicts of interest that could emerge between Penn's corporte work as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller and Clinton's campaign activity. In May 2007, Penn was reported to be writing an internal office blog, in which he described business meetings with corporate officials who at times had interests that ran counter to Clinton's campaign rhetoric.

One of Penn's blog entries, according to Bloomberg News, described a trip he took to Houston to meet with John Hofmeister, head of Royal Dutch Shell's U.S. arm and a leader in an industry that Clinton has criticized for reaping "windfall profits."

Penn also described his firm's efforts to win business from the U.S. Tuna Foundation, Bloomberg reported. He noted that while the industry group was trying to neutralize federal warnings of elevated mercury in the fish, Clinton was publicly criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency for playing down the warnings.

Penn's firm has also represented TXU Corp., a company that builds coal-fired power plants; tobacco giant Altria Group Inc.; and drug manufacturers Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc., among others. All have been at odds with Clinton's policy positions at times.

"He has been in an inherent conflict of interest for more than a year," said Fred Wertheimer, head of an ethics watchdog group, who has been critical of Penn's efforts to balance his business and the campaign. Wertheimer called it "a classic example of how big money has inextricably intertwined the campaign advising and lobbying worlds of modern-day Washington with potential conflicts of interest all over the place."

Staff writers Dan Balz and Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

[rowdytexan2]

Who doubts? Richard Daly and his corrupt supporter Barak Obama? Hogwarsh!

David Axelrod, Obama''s public relations expert still takes money from Richard Daly whose whole corrupt government is under fraud investigation!
Raise some hell about that! Axelrod came out of an oil company job to take this one! Start questioning his credentials!

[b-easy63]

OOOOOOOOOOH one discrepancy for Axelrod, compared to NUMEROUS for Hillary all over the place? Tell us, according to John Edwards, Hillary gets more money and support/donations from big pharm, the ins industry and the health industry than he and Obama combined.

So how does a person with such ties advocate a Universal Health Care program that would be mandated and therefore hold us hostage to certain groups? Sounds like conflict of interest if not worse...

And tell us, when does Hillary plan to pay her delinquent insurance premiums to Aetna for her own workers?

And what is that news from the Columbia government concerning Mark Penns visit--when they say they are not quite sure when he came--if he was representing his own company or Hillary? double dealing like she did on NAFTA and in Canada? Some things don''t change no matter how you shuffle the players...do they? LMAO

[blackspirit3]

IN 1992 THE CLINTONS WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO FIX THINGS

- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates*
- Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
- First president sued for sexual harassment.
- First president accused of rape.
- First first lady to come under criminal investigation
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
- First president to establish a legal defense fund.
- First president to be held in contempt of court
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court

IN 2008 LETS SEND THEM BACK TO FINISH THEIR JOB

[DCropp]

It''s been widely reported that despite Penn he''s staying involved in top-level conference calls and strategy meetings. (Everything that he did before).

The only thing that changed is Penn''s title.

[eddynewhope]

Doubts remain about Penn''s depature? Double-talk from the Hillary camp?? Noooooo! That would suggest that the Clintons are rank hypocrites and liars on a grand scale. This is the Dem equivalent to Karl Rove we''re talking about here. Hahahahah - Good going Clintons. LOL

[gkc99]

Truth to tell, the Clintons are dedicated globalizers. Hillary is trying to run away from her and Bill''s legacy, but should she be elected, if history is any judge there will be a raft of "free trade" agreements, outsourcing, hiring of foreigners to take US jobs, and all the things that happened under Bill.

Bill Clinton made the likes of Bill Gates and Larry Ellison very happy by letting them import hundreds of thousands of Asian workers, while US workers who had devoted their lives to that industry were given pink slips.

Then, the Asians went home and took their newly-learned skills with them. The dot com crash happened about that time. The Clintons were real good at putting the *** in the other guy''s pocket.

So Mark Penn is just part of this pattern--mouth off about how much the Clintons "care", while pandering to the Billionaires of the "high-tech" industries and giving away American jobs to foreigners for money.

[no_billary]

Taking Penn out of the Clinton''s campaign is like taking a single dirty diaper out a landfill; one less piece of garbage but still full of trash.

[jockh]

I am sick to death of Hillary using the voters of Fl and Mi for her own political purpose. When she thought her nomination was inevitable she didn''''t give a hoot about Fl and Mi voters. She put that in writing. Yes all you Hillary supporters should read that again. HILLARY SIGNED A PLEDGE THAT THE VOTES IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN WOULD NOT BE COUNTED.

When these states were voting, she is on record as saying that %u201CTHEIR VOTES ARENT GOING TO COUNT%u201D

Why didn%u2019t she shout, cry and go into hysterics then? Because she thought she was going to win anyway, that why !!!!!!!


HILLARY AGREED to sanctions against Mi and Fl prior to their vote.
HILLARY AGREED with DNC that sanctions were appropriate.
HILLARY AGREED not to campaign in those states.
HILLARY SIGNED a pledge that their votes would not count.


But now, she has developed this sudden desire for their votes to count not because she cares for them but purely for selfish reasons. She is now scraping the bottom of the barrel for support and suddenly she cares sooo much for the voters in Mi and Fl.

[libra127]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/is-hillarys-muc.html

Well, I''ll be damned. Turns out Clinton told the hospital insurance company story right in the first place!

Good for Hillary!

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 06:54 PM : Apr 07, 2008

Excellent research, Rowdy. I suspected this was the case. There''s even a YouTube video of the deputy sheriff telling Hillary the story, just like she retold it. But those ever-lying Hillary-haters will bash her for it still.

[sjbj2322]

"So how does a person with such ties advocate a Universal Health Care program that would be mandated and therefore hold us hostage to certain groups? Sounds like conflict of interest if not worse..."

Uh-huh good question. How does a person with ties to a wife whose salary on the board of a Chicago hospital tripled while indigent patients who didn''t have insurance were billed 3 1/2 times what those with insurance were billed? Yep, Obama''s got the answer now doesn''t he! Wrong!! Tell me just what is her normal salary if she is only working at 20% during the campaign but filed taxes on over $212,000. And to think she''s having problems providing piano lessons for their daughters. Give me a break. Now I understand why Grandma Obama is living in a hut. Those are some darned expensive piano lessons.

[pepperwood2]

OK its official now Hillary is going to go on record trying to look presidential claiming to be one of the first, ahead of Obama ???? of course to suggest that Bush skip the Olympic introductions.

It was alright for her & Bill to receive illegal contributions from China and vote for "favorite trade nation status" while the Genocide of a million Rwandans was being carried out in the 90''s.

Let''s see now. I was for China''s free trade nation status" before the illegal contributions were discovered. The Rwandans were just Poor Black Folk. It was easy to look the other way. Just show me the money! SO SAD!

What is wrong with this Hillary? She was against NAFTA before she voted for it. She was against the War before she voted for it.

I actually started criticizing the War in Iraq before he did. Look would I lie? Says Clinton so there I rest my case. Naaa Naaa Naaa

What is it with this Hillary? Another phony Pa. spin. She certainly has a lot of Pa. Horses coming out to her rescue, take her by the hand, spoon feed her do her talking again. Only here in Pa. we know these Horses and which part of the Horse this talk is coming from.

[b-easy63]

Uh-huh good question. How does a person with ties to a wife whose salary on the board of a Chicago hospital tripled while indigent patients who didn''''t have insurance were billed 3 1/2 times what those with insurance were billed?
Posted by sjbj2322 at 11:59 AM : Apr 08, 2008


Hmmmm. The DIFFERENCE between the 2 cases , even if they are 100% accurate is that Michelle Obama''s case illustrates what Hospitals all over the US do: charge more to the uninsured than they do to people whose ins company has enough clout and leverage to bargain amounts down. On the other hand, Hillary''s plan which she says will be capped at 5 to 10% at the most of gross income means that people can pay up to 50,000.00 or more for year for the same health care that someone who pays 200.00 a year gets and that the person paying 50K a year does not have any say or choice, nor can they opt out or find another provider--but the real kicker is--Hillary is not proposing what Big pharm and others charge, just that we will all be forced to pay them and through certain providers that the government will choose...

If those providers are donors of hers, then she will have pimped out our healthcare to her cronies, pretty much similar to Bush pimping out the Iraq war to Halliburton. The biggest difference is, we ALL will pay and frankly, I like paying about 2500.00 a year for my health insurance and have no desire to march anywhere near towards 25K or higher.

[muuafan]

rowdytexan2..

May I ask your post exudes so much hate? No one here is attacking you personally. Let''s just keep to the topic. If you look at this objectively, each candidate and their staff have made missteps and misstatements. Unfortunately for Hillary, it has been her camp that has made the most mistakes. I know that you can easily say that the Obama campaign''s issue with Rev Wright was pretty big; however, that is pretty much the only big problem he has had. Hillary however, seems to have had problems with staff racial innuendo, contradictory stances, misstatements about Bosnia (read: lies), etc. The only reason these latest issues are so big is because this is all they have to significantly show the difference between the two. The main issues (economy, nafta, war in iraq, health care, etc) just don''t show enough difference between the two. I understand you are a staunch Clinton supporter; but, come on...let''s be adults here when discussing each candidates challenges.

[b-easy63]

Uh-huh good question. How does a person with ties to a wife whose salary on the board of a Chicago hospital tripled while indigent patients who didn''''''''t have insurance were billed 3 1/2 times what those with insurance were billed?
Posted by sjbj2322 at 11:59 AM : Apr 08, 2008


ALmost all hospitals charge the uninsured more...but the biggest difference is: Obama is NOT proposing a plan to make all of America use his wife''s hospital affiliation by MANDATE. Hillary is. Heaven help all of us if her sources:

A. Deny a lot of services
B. Have no cap on their rates
C. Cause a revolt among the citizenry and they quit there jobs and go for less employment rather than subsidize the huge expenditures deducted from their paychecks.

Because if Hillary can''t steal the big bucks through FICA, where will her insurance program be? In the same condition as the other universal ins for the elderly? Due to implode or go bankrupt by 2017? LOL

[b-easy63]

May I ask your post exudes so much hate? No one here is attacking you personally. Let''''s just keep to the topic. If you look at this objectively, each candidate and their staff have made missteps and misstatements. Unfortunately for Hillary, it has been her camp that has made the most mistakes. I know that you can easily say that the Obama campaign''''s issue with Rev Wright was pretty big; however, that is pretty much the only big problem he has had. Hillary however, seems to have had problems with staff racial innuendo, contradictory stances, misstatements about Bosnia (read: lies), etc. The only reason these latest issues are so big is because this is all they have to significantly show the difference between the two. The main issues (economy, nafta, war in iraq, health care, etc) just don''''t show enough difference between the two. I understand you are a staunch Clinton supporter; but, come on...let''''s be adults here when discussing each candidates challenges.

Posted by muuafan at 01:08 PM : Apr 08, 2008


You really ask too much of Rowdy. She embodies Hillary and her philosophy from the lying and denying to the smears and sneers--given that, Rowdy hopes to win (or hopes Hilary does) by hook or by crook--there is no appealing to decency in such a mindset--it is a foreign language to her and others of Hillary''s ilk.

[taddles-2009]

"Tell me just what is her normal salary if she is only working at 20% during the campaign but filed taxes on over $212,000.

Posted by sjbj2322 at 11:59 AM : Apr 08, 2008"


Her salary is commensurate with her position and experience according to the UofC med center, your implications are offensive.

[walt1944-2009]

Why do I get the feeling that Mark Penn is to the Clintons what Karl Rove was to the Great Emperor Bush II?

Rove served 2 masters too; The Great Emperor Bush II and the greater master, The Neocon Fascist Nazi movement!

Isn''t there a passage in the New Testament about one man serving 2 masters?

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, (more of the same) McCain???

[greenfun]

Obama opposed single-payer bill HR676, sponsored by Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers in 2006, although at least 75 members of Congress supported it. Single-payer works by trying to diminish the administrative costs that comprise somewhere around one-third of every health care dollar spent, by eliminating the duplicative nature of these services. The expected $300 billion in annual savings such a system would produce would go directly to cover the uninsured and expand coverage to those who already have insurance, according to Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Obama''s own plan has been widely criticized for leaving health care industry administrative costs in place and for allowing millions of people to remain uninsured. "Sicko" filmmaker Michael Moore ridiculed it saying, "Obama wants the insurance companies to help us develop a new health care plan-the same companies who have created the mess in the first place."

[taddles-2009]

"But those ever-lying Hillary-haters will bash her for it still.

Posted by libra127 at 11:56 AM : Apr 08, 2008"


The bashing is for not vetting a story she got third or fourth hand. One would think a prospective leader of the free world would verify something she is using as justification for changing health care. I hope that if she becomes president she verifies intelligence information a little better than she verified this 4th hand story.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by muuafan at 01:08 PM : Apr 08, 2008

I think you need to go out and research Mr. Obama, and his campaign shilling clan. Then you can come take me to task for my stances against this guy! He has been a shill from day one when he entered politics. It''s well documented if you go look for it.

[rowdytexan2]

The bashing is for not vetting a story she got third or fourth hand. One would think a prospective leader of the free world would verify something she is using as justification for changing health care. I hope that if she becomes president she verifies intelligence information a little better than she verified this 4th hand story.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by taddles at 01:18 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Actually the hospital insurance story has turned out to be true. The Obama scam campaign failed to get THEIR story right.

[rowdytexan2]

Yeah, you have to forgive B-easy, she will lie and shill till the end of the day. She learned it from the Obama campaign. Never can get her stories right.

Have to give her this, she tries to make her shills look intelligent, but if you read closely, it''s just what it is.

[taddles-2009]

"I think you need to go out and research Mr. Obama, and his campaign shilling clan. Then you can come take me to task for my stances against this guy! He has been a shill from day one when he entered politics. It''''s well documented if you go look for it.

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:19 PM : Apr 08, 2008"


Fortunately your opinion will not change the national polls that have Obama well out in front of Hillary and continuing to expand on that lead. Hillary may win Penn, but even if she does it will not be by anything remotely like the landslide she needs just to stay in the race. The numbers are against her and every day they are getting worse not better.

[rowdytexan2]

Fortunately your opinion will not change the national polls that have Obama well out in front of Hillary and continuing to expand on that lead. Hillary may win Penn, but even if she does it will not be by anything remotely like the landslide she needs just to stay in the race. The numbers are against her and every day they are getting worse not better.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by taddles at 01:25 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Fortunately you do not see exactly how the vote has gone, and who actually has the support of the people.

Watch and learn.

[rufisgufis]

1. Bosnia lie
2. Half of the 10% charity into their "Family Foundation"
3. Distortion of pregnant woman''s story in Ohio
4. Mark Penn''s involvement with Colombian officials
5. Constantly playing the victim and gender card
6. "As far as I know" comment
7. Labeling Richardson as a traitor
8. Trying to BUY votes by threatening Pelosi
9. Stirring up Wright issue to deflect her Tuzla LIE
10. Continually playing up that McCain is a better CIC and a patriot than Obama

[taddles-2009]

"Fortunately you do not see exactly how the vote has gone, and who actually has the support of the people.

Watch and learn.

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:30 PM : Apr 08, 2008"


The hospital story is true as you pointed out, Hillary''s retelling of it is incorrect but that''s a non issue.

I have been watching and what I have learned is that Obama has momentum and has shrugged off the first serious attacks from the right with hardly a scratch. I will be happy to save you a seat at the Obama inauguration...I hear they are serving crow.

[rowdytexan2]

I have been watching and what I have learned is that Obama has momentum and has shrugged off the first serious attacks from the right with hardly a scratch. I will be happy to save you a seat at the Obama inauguration...I hear they are serving crow.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by taddles at 01:36 PM : Apr 08, 2008

It''ll never happen. If he doesn''t lose now, he''ll lose in November. Centrist democrats and crossover republicans will never vote for Obama. It''s that simple.

[rufisgufis]

A prominent Southern California university has developed a scientific test to determine when Hillary is lying. After exhaustive testing in the field, this test is now 100% accurate. It%u2019s developers have been awarded the Noble Prize for their historic breakthrough in the field of Mendacity Determination. The test works like this: if Hillary%u2019s lips are moving, she is lying.

[taddles-2009]

"It''''ll never happen. If he doesn''''t lose now, he''''ll lose in November. Centrist democrats and crossover republicans will never vote for Obama. It''''s that simple.

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:39 PM : Apr 08, 2008"


He''s already ahead of McCain in the polls and they haven''t even started going after each other. I''m looking forward to the first debate between McCain and Obama, it''s going to be fun watching McCain trying to explain his "straight talk" express with an office full of lobbyists and his "National Security and Foreign Affairs" experience when he doesn''t know the difference between Sunni''s and Shiite''s and doesn''t know who is running Iraq. His 8 trips to Iraq should have been a bit more informative than that.

[taddles-2009]

"Centrist democrats and crossover republicans will never vote for Obama. It''''s that simple.

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:39 PM : Apr 08, 2008"


Whatever you have to tell yourself to get through the day I guess. The record turnout for Obama and the national polls tell a different story though.

Do you like your crow hot or cold?

[blackspirit3]

IN 1992 THE CLINTONS WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO FIX THINGS

- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates*
- Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
- First president sued for sexual harassment.
- First president accused of rape.
- First first lady to come under criminal investigation
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
- First president to establish a legal defense fund.
- First president to be held in contempt of court
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court

IN 2008 LETS SEND THEM BACK TO FINISH THEIR JOB

[rational_1]

Fortunately your opinion will not change the national polls that have Obama well out in front of Hillary and continuing to expand on that lead. Hillary may win Penn, but even if she does it will not be by anything remotely like the landslide she needs just to stay in the race. The numbers are against her and every day they are getting worse not better.
Posted by taddles at 01:25 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Fortunately you do not see exactly how the vote has gone, and who actually has the support of the people.
Watch and learn.
Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:30 PM : Apr 08, 2008

I have to go with taddles on this one. Hillary might have been quite prescient in comparing herself with Rocky a few days back. She''s getting the *** beaten out of her lately, it''s getting late in the fight and Apollo Creed still looks pretty fresh. Unless she wins pretty convincingly in PA (and that''s looking less and less likely) she will end up just like Rocky - bloody and dazed.

[serrano338]

Ugh to it all!

[neonink]

Mark Penn su_ck_ed and that''s why Hillary is having a rough time.

off the beaten track:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59850

Think Michelle ever took into account all that America did for Obama''s father?

Nope. Read and decide for yourself. Then look up her thesis sometime.

[rufisgufis]

melchg:

Thanks for the additions to my list.

[neonink]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59850

CBS is so afraid you''ll get actual facts, they screw up intentionally website submissions.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431908&in_page_id=1770

http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12745.htm

[jt_lancer]

Corruption and sleaze follow this lady around like the dust cloud that follows the Pigpen character from the Charlie Brown comic strip.

[rufisgufis]

melchg:

Hillary & Bill went to Rwanda and could have been instrumental in preventing genocide there, instead, they spent one hour at the airport and presented a tacky, wooden plaque.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by rational_1 at 02:05 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Nahhhhhh, ya''ll will just have to watch and learn.

[jockh]

Hillary says she is in the race to win. Just one problem. She''''s already lost.

Obama holds an insurmountable lead in what matters most: the pledged delegates, the popular vote, number of states won and money raised.

She needs superdelegates to overturn the will of the voters. If they nominate Hillary, the Democratic Party will be no better than Bush and Rove were in the 2000 election. It will be a stolen nomination and all credibility will be lost, taking them decades to recover. It would devastate thousands of loyal voters, the party''s new fund-raising base, and would destroy an opportunity to strengthen a new generation of Democrats.

Clinton''s scenario for victory requires splitting her own party. It is a divisive strategy, but she doesn''t care. Her personal ambitions are more important than the party winning. Her campaign adopts a bizarre "insult-40-states strategy," which belittles states small, liberal and Red. Apparently, the only states that matter are the ones she coincidentally happens to win.

Hillary agreed in writing that the votes in Fl and Mi would not count and she did not speak out in their defence because she thought she had the nomination in the bag. Her new found support for Fl and Mi is because she needs to scrape the bottom of the barrel for support.

As a democrat, I am ashamed that a greedy, desperate woman is hijacking and sabotaging the Democratic party.

[peteracevedo-2009]

Guys- anyone interested in politics/presidential race should definitely check out http://www.savagepolitics.com
Their articles are like nothing I have read in any of the current media outlets. It is brilliant writing plus it offers a great community in which to discuss. The editor actually takes time to answer and the political humor section is awesome!!!

Check out the article %u201CWe are the puppets%u201D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://savagepolitics.com/?p=271

[b-easy63]

Obama just picked up 2 more Superdelegates in Montana bringing his total in that state to 4 out of a possible 8. Hillary has picked up ZERO from that state so far. The 2 who just endorsed him are women and this was after a visit by both candidates. Looks like Obama appealed to them more, though one did say she reserved the right to switch to Hillary if Montana goes to Hillary. LOL

Posted by b-easy63 at 03:22 PM : Apr 08, 2008

[rufisgufis]

Is Hillary lying again? There are reports that she has fired Mark Penn from her campaign. Those reports are not true. Mark Penn continues working on behalf of the Clinton campaign as an adviser. Mark Penn was the author of the attack plan against Obama and that is part of the campaign Clinton said was the "fun part."

[libra127]

There are reports that she has fired Mark Penn from her campaign. Those reports are not true.

Posted by rufisgufis at 03:32 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Nope. The reports were that he was fired (or had resigned under pressure) from his position as chief campaign strategist. The reports said he would still do some polling and be an advisor for the campaign. They are free to use him however they want.

[gkc99]

Clinton will keep Penn because Clinton is a backer of "free trade" agreements and outsourcing. She and Bill presided over the biggest exodus of US jobs to Asia in US history.

No matter how many times she says the contrary, she was a backer of NAFTA, along with Bill.

Don''t the Clintons ever get tired of lying?

Obama for Pres.

[kate1149]

Ok I know Obama doesn''t like to go negative, but if he doesn''t hit Clinton on this Mark Penn situation he is a fool. Clinton saying that Penn has resigned under pressure and then still using him as an adviser and pollster is typical Clinton hypocrosy. This is an example of the kind of Washington politics that Obama claims to be against, "conflicts of interest all over the place", as the article states. Come on Obama this is your opportunity to put Clinton away for good and get on with the general election against McSame.

[rowdytexan2]

Ok I know Obama doesn''''t like to go negative, but if he doesn''''t hit Clinton on this Mark Penn situation he is a fool. Clinton saying that Penn has resigned under pressure and then still using him as an adviser and pollster is typical Clinton hypocrosy. This is an example of the kind of Washington politics that Obama claims to be against, "conflicts of interest all over the place", as the article states. Come on Obama this is your opportunity to put Clinton away for good and get on with the general election against McSame.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Kate1149 at 06:29 PM : Apr 08, 2008

Who the hell do you think posed this krap? Obama did!

He does this whizzing in the wind stuff to distract from his own incompetence.

David Axelrod, his own public relations advisor still takes money of the corrupt Richard Daly regime in Chicago, and still represents his oil interests.lol

Talk about the pot stirring the black kettle!

[jt_lancer]

We must STOP free trade NOW!

We CANNOT allow peaceful Americans to voluntarily exchange goods and services for mutual benefit!

Americans should only be allowed to buy the goods and services that the politicians allow them to buy.

At government approved prices.

Of course, if its not good for you, Americans should not be allowed to buy it at all.

Trans fats? No way.

Cigarettes and alcohol? Not a chance.

Obesity-inducing fast food? Forget it.

Trust me, people. The Nanny State knows what is best for you.

Let us take away the heavy burden of decision-making in your life.

Let us decide what is best for you.

I''''m Hillary Clinton and I approve this message.

[jockh]

Hillary will never win , the superdelegates will ultimately cement Obama''s nomination.. Currently Hillary leads among superdelegates, but almost all jumped on board a long time ago when it seemed her nomination was inevitable. Since Super Tuesday Obama has gained 69 superdelegates while Clinton has lost two.

The reason even more superdelegates haven''t declared for Obama is because Clinton is expected to win Pennsylvania. A superdelegate endorsement now risks having their endorsement seem worthless when Obama likely loses PA. So most are probably waiting until after PA votes, so they can endorse Obama in the lead up to North Carolina, a state he will win big, and thus have their endorsements look that much better.

The majority of remaining undecided superdelegates will either endorse after PA and prior to NC or in June after the last vote is cast, and expect virtually all to vote for Obama.

In the end, Clinton won''t even be left with the 251 superdelegates she has now. Many of those 251 are Clinton loyalists and won''t switch to Obama publicly, but they are politicians, who put their own career first and will get in line with everyone else.

Sure Clinton will hold on to 50-100 of her loyalists until the bitter end, but any fantasy that this thing will be a close finish is just that, a fantasy.

[tiredofthebs]

Astonishing ! I give up !!! You OBAMITES win !! When John McCain takes the oath of office, you''ll have no one to blame but yourselves. INDEPENDENTS will not vote for OBAMA ..... PERIOD!

That having been said ....... It''s amazing to see the hostility towards free trade in these posts. As if the government were to blame for huge corporations outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. The idea behind NAFTA and related legislature was to offer competitive pricing at a global level. Imagine being able to buy prescription medication at the price they pay in Canada & Mexico.