Hillary Clinton has finally sacked chief strategic advisor, Mark Penn. What is truly incredible is he was sacked for the ultimate sin in a political campaign: getting off message. The message was that Hillary opposes NAFTA yet Mark Penn was discussing it with the Colombians as if to say, “Don’t worry about what she says, NAFTA’s is here to stay.” That is the message Penn conveyed and I believe it is the unofficial position of the Clinton campaign.
Hillary Clinton only talks against NAFTA because it is a campaign issue and is important in states like Ohio (which she won) and in Pennsylvania (she is ahead in the polls). It is popular for her to be against NAFTA. In spite of the fact that her husband, Bill Clinton, as President pushed NAFTA through Congress with the help of the Republican Party.
In view of the Mark Penn situation, Hillary Clinton needs to come clean about NAFTA. “Is you is or is you ain’t?”
There is plenty of evidence that Hillary Clinton is pro-NAFTA.
WASHINGTON — The Obama campaign Tuesday challenged Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s claim that she spoke out against the North American Free Trade Agreement before its 1993 passage.
And the campaign said Clinton’s claim goes beyond the crucial issue of jobs and raises questions about her ability to tell the truth.
Advertisement“The question people have to ask themselves is, ‘If she won’t be candid about where she was before, how can you have confidence about where she’ll be in the future?”‘ Obama strategist David Axelrod told Indiana reporters.
Mark Penn’s latest gaffe reopens this wound about where Hillary Clinton is on NAFTA. Because of the close relationship of the Clintons and Mark Penn, it is hard to believe that the Clintons were unaware of this Colombian contact.
And here is further evidence that the Clinton are not that upset with Mark Penn. He will continue to work for the campaign.
But his polling firm, Mark and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign.
So the Clinton campaign sacked Mark Penn, but. Yes, but what. A clean break from Mark Penn is needed if the Clinton campaign expects to maintain any credibility on NAFTA and many other issues. Again I ask, “Is you is or is you ain’t.” Reading on Walden Bookstore.