Mark Penn reminds us he hates Clinton.

[SirNitram]

Only conclusion I can draw.

Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist met with Colombia's ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.

Attendance by the adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Colombian officials. He wasn't there in his campaign role, but in his separate job as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, an international communications and lobbying firm. The firm has a contract with the South American nation to promote congressional approval of the trade deal, among other things, according to filings with the Justice Department.

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Mr. Penn's campaign-consulting firm, received more than $10 million in payments from the Clinton campaign as of the end of February, according to federal election filings.

Mr. Penn declined to comment. Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Clinton's campaign, said in an email that "Mark was not there on behalf of the campaign" and referred further questions to Burson-Marsteller. "Sen. Clinton's opposition to the trade deal with Colombia is clear," Mr. Wolfson added.

A Burson-Marsteller spokesman didn't return calls or emails seeking comment.

A spokesman for Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe said the ambassador met with Mr. Penn to discuss the bilateral agenda. "There have also been meetings with the advisers to the campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain," he said. "It's the embassy's job to explain Colombia's reality."

The spokesman said he didn't know if Mr. Penn was representing Sen. Clinton or Burson-Marsteller, which signed a $300,000, one-year contract with the Colombian Embassy in March 2007 to work on behalf of the trade deal and anti-drug-trafficking initiatives, according to the Justice Department filings.

A spokesman for Sen. McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, said a team of policy advisers met recently with 20 Latin American ambassadors, including Colombia's. An Obama spokesman and the Colombian Embassy spokeswoman both said the Colombian ambassador had never met with an Obama representative.

Both Democratic presidential candidates have taken criticism for positions and private statements of their advisers on trade and other matters.

Sen. Clinton's victory last month in Ohio was credited in part to reports that Sen. Obama's economic adviser had raised doubts with Canadian officials over Sen. Obama's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

As the fight turns to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, both Democrats continue to campaign against trade agreements.

"We've got to have new trade policies before we have new trade deals," Sen. Clinton told the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO on Tuesday. "That includes no trade deal with Colombia while violence against trade unionists continues in that country."

Sen. Obama also opposes that deal.

The spokeswoman for the Colombian Embassy, Sandra Ocampo Kohn, confirmed Thursday that Mr. Penn met Monday with Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson, as talks have intensified over passage of the trade deal. Ms. Kohn said she wasn't authorized to provide details.

President Bush has signaled that he could send the trade deal to Congress next week despite opposition from congressional Democrats and labor unions.

It is unclear how involved Mr. Penn has been in promoting the trade deal. Ms. Kohn said another Burson-Marsteller employee, Jano Cabrera, has been the primary contact with the firm on the communications strategy to promote the trade agreement.

Burson-Marsteller is part of an outside effort working on behalf of the Colombian government that includes Glover Park Group and Johnson, Madigan Peck, Boland & Stewart, both of which are contracted to lobby for Colombia on behalf of the deal, Ms. Kohn said.

Mr. Penn has been scrutinized over the dual roles he holds with his firm and the Clinton campaign. Burson-Marsteller's contract advising the Colombian government is one of several examples of the firm advising clients on causes Sen. Clinton has opposed.

Penn is in the campaign for one reason: His ego is far too colossal for him not to take up the chance and play kingmaker. And as I occasionally suspected, he wants to crush Clinton and ensure a continuation of D.C. as normal.. Though the candidate one of his subsidiaries is backing..

McCain.

[Pu-239]

...And Mark Penn now has left the campaign:

Penn Out as Clinton's Top Strategist

By Anne E. Kornblut
Mark Penn, the chief strategist behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid, quit under pressure Sunday, two days after reports surfaced about Penn meeting with Colombian officials interested in promoting a trade deal that sthe New York senator 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," Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement.

Taking over Penn's role in directing campaign strategy, Williams added, will be Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson, Clinton's longtime spokesman.

Penn had walked a tricky tightrope throughout the presidential campaign, serving both as chief executive of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and as a top Clinton aide. The two roles collided last week when Penn met with Colombian officials to discuss the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

After news outlets reported on the meeting, Penn said in a statement Friday that his sitting down with the Colombians was an "error in judgment." Colombia's U.S. embassy responded Saturday by firing Burson-Marsteller from the $300,000 contract, saying that the Bogota government "considers this a lack of respect to Colombians, and finds this response unacceptable."

Penn, a longtime Clinton pollster and consultant, did not take a leave of absence from his firm when he took the top job at her campaign. He has repeatedly said that he would delegate most corporate work to others.

[Mr Bean]

...And Mark Penn now has left the

Kinda, he's kinda left

It's a shame, for those of us who want Obama to win since Mark Penn is basicly a massive fucking moron, and Hillary has been paying him millions of dollars for advice that's a least a seven on the dumb idea scale.

"She is the chosen one" Mark Penn's strategy
"Your state does not matter unless you vote Hillary" Mark Penn Strategy to the core
"La-La-La it's only Black People" playing the race card is classic Mark Penn.
"The only big state strategy?" Not totally Mark Penn's fault but he did call Howard Dean's 50 state strategy a giant mistake, and when it was greatly successful he still panned it.

In short, Mark Penn puts the "Con" in consultants, because his ideas are utter shit yet he gets millions.

[Drooling Iguana]

Obama's going to win the primary anyway. Penn's replacement might actually be smart enough to advise Clinton to save the remainder of her political career by dropping out of the race ASAP.

[CmdrWilkens]

Well Penn leaving does continue what should be the most consistent attack Obama can wage which is that if Hillary can't corral her own staff and keep them intact how is she possibly going to be "ready on Day One." Moreover while the debate inside the Clinton campaign may grow silent its still going to take time for the new team to transition in and get a new message out, time during which Obama can further narrow the gap in PA ad widen his lead in NC. Lastly Penn being ousted may shed even more light upon how much Clinton owes people money which she isn't paying them since Penn's firm still has unpaid bills in the multi-million dollar range.

[Patrick Degan]

Clinton's campaign is a hopeless trainwreck at this point. Replacing Penn is not going to save her given the aforementioned difficulties and delays in getting the new people up to speed, and it doesn't erase the other problems the campaign has including its indebtedness and inability to match the Obama media barrage.

I'd agree with Drooling Iguana in that the best advice Penn's replacement can give her is to drop out while it's still possible to salvage a future, but if loyalty is the only measure of acceptable standards in a staff replacement, that advice will never reach her ears and nothing is really going to change. Especially if the DLC has any hand in picking said replacement.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Obama challenges at this point write themselves? What's Hillary's cabinet going to look like given her campaign staff - a job with much less gravity.