Mark Penn's Firm Paid $4.3 Mill By Clinton Campaign (Axelrod's More than $1 Mill) [View All]

[mod mom]

Mark Penn's Firm Paid $4.3 Million By Clinton Campaign
February 6, 2008 03:47 AM


Even if his candidate fails to secure the Democratic nomination, Mark Penn, the chief strategist for Sen. Hillary Clinton, has profited quite handsomely.

Through the course of the primary, Penn's consulting firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, has been paid more than $4.3 million by the Clinton campaign, according to a review of campaign finance filings.

That total, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, includes receipts for tasks ranging from polling and consulting to mail expenses and even photography. It does not include the $1.5 million the Clinton campaign is in debt to the firm.

Sen. Barack Obama's chief adviser, David Axelrod, has not done too poorly either. His firm, AKP media (for which Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe also serves) was paid more than $1 million by the Obama campaign, primarily for media activities.

Neither campaign returned requests for comment.

It is not uncommon for candidates to spend their cash on the firms and companies associated with their advisers. And the elongated primary, combined with the historic fundraising totals, have pushed campaign expenditures increasingly higher. Still, the totals taken in by Penn and, to a lesser extent, Axelrod represent significant hauls for a year-plus work

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/06/mark-penns-firm-paid-4_n_85192.html


SO CLINTON UNWISELY PAYS PENN'S FIRM OVER 4 TIMES AS MUCH TO LOSE HER TOP LEAD STATUS? THIS SOUNDS AS IF THE OBAMA CAMP IS MUCH MORE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE IN THEIR CHOICE OF AXELROD. WHY WOULD CLINTON HANG ON TO SUCH A REPUGNANT MAN WHOSE UNION BUSTING, AND DEFENSE OF SUCH CORPORATIONS AS BLACKWATER, PHILIP MORRIS, UNION CARBIDE AFTER THE BHOPAL DISASTER, GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS FOR MONSANTO AMONG OTHERS, IS PUBLICLY KNOWN? WHY CHOSE A FIRM THAT GAVE OVER 57% OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GOP IN 2006. IN 2006! WHEN EVERYONE WHO HAD EVEN A LITTLE SENSE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE UP TO?

WHY PROMOTE A FIRM WHO PROTECTS THE POWERFUL OVER THE PEOPLE TO REPRESENT YOU?