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Hillary's Chief Strategist Promotes Trade Deal with Colombia While Hillary Opposes It

April 04, 2008 9:36 AM

It's been interesting to watch Clinton senior strategist Mark Penn advance the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, while retaining his lucrative job as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide.

You may recall former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, once likened Penn to Karl Rove noting that Penn's firm once represented the private contractor Blackwater, adding, "we don't want to replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats."

Burson's lobbying subsidiary BKSH helped Blackwater's top executive, Erik Prince, prepare for his congressional testimony.

Since then, Penn's firm has also represented the company that made Aquadots, the toy beads coated with a chemical that when ingested metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate, better known as the "date rape" drug. (Two kids in the US who swallowed Aqua Dots went into non-responsive comas, though both have since emerged. Aqua Dots have been pulled from the shelves.)

A Burson official told me at the time that "Mark has never had any contact with this client. We have thousands of clients around the world and this is one of them."

But today we learn from the Wall Street Journal's Susan Davis that on Monday Penn met with Colombia's ambassador to the U.S., Ambassador Carolina Barco Isakson, to discuss how to promote the U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement pending before Congress which Penn's candidate, Clinton, says she opposes.

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

The Clinton campaign said Penn's meeting was under the auspices of his work at Burson Marsteller Worldwide, and that Clinton opposes the trade deal.

Awkward, to say the least.

- jpt

April 4, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (26)

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From what I read maybe Mark Penn has already decided that Clinton is not going to win, and is moving on. Seems that most of Clintons Supporters are saying she must have a blow out the rest of the way to win and if she doesn't they are reserving the right to support Obama.

I think the hand writing is on the wall and her supporters are slipping out of her hands.

Posted by: Thinking | Apr 4, 2008 10:22:44 AM

Everything Randi Rhodes said of Hillary Clinton is COMPLETELY true.

If I were in her position, I would have said more

Posted by: Vanessa | Apr 4, 2008 10:12:13 AM

Hmmmmm....

Another I thought I was against it before I voted for it, thinking it wouldn't pass.

Will the Real Hillary Clinton please stand up.

I swear she is a Republican. Must have something to do with that Prayer Group, the Fellowship headed by that wacko Dopuglas Coe

Posted by: Thinking | Apr 4, 2008 10:11:38 AM

Penn better listen to his boss or he'll be out of a job along with the other 80,000 that lost their jobs last month.

Posted by: SadStateOfAffairs | Apr 4, 2008 10:02:34 AM

Hillary is a true hypocrit

Talk about wink wink

Posted by: Vanessa | Apr 4, 2008 9:56:08 AM

That is a good sign of a well organized campaign, lobbysts are taking over already, that is only the candidate Hillary could you imagine the Prez Hillary? Hill the Bosnian sniper will not succeed. God saved already America and the world from Hill and Penn. God bless America and God bless Obama. OBAMA08.

Posted by: BKMC | Apr 4, 2008 9:47:09 AM

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