Hillary's chief campaign strategist "gross", "disgusting"

[jgraz]

Last night, Rachel Maddow gave us a sobering tour of the history of Burson-Marsteller, the company run by Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn. I've included a link to the audio clip along with the transcript.

http://homepage.mac.com/jgraz/RachelMaddowBursonMarsteller.mp3

Blackwater knows it has a problem.

Erik Prince and the other Republican luminaries at the helm of the world's largest and best armed and richest and best connected private, for-profit army, they know they have a problem.

I don't think they see themselves as having a moral problem. They wouldn't be in this business in the first place if they did. We know they don't have a financial problem, that's for sure. It looks like they probably won't have a legal problem, after all (unbelievable as it may seem). It is literally impossible for them to have a political problem since they have hired so many Republican Party power brokers that the Republican Party is starting to look like a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackwater, rather than the other way around.

No, the problem that Blackwater has is actually an image problem. A branding problem.

And when the evilest corporations in the whole world have an image problem, they hire professional help. They hire Burson-Marsteller.

When Philip Morris, for example, needs helps with its corporate image, they call Burson-Marsteller.

When Entergy Nuclear wants you to not think about their cooling towers collapsing on their nuclear power plant in Vermont, they call Burson-Marsteller.

When Three-Mile Island happened in 1979, Babcock and Wilcox, they called Burson-Marsteller.

The Bhopal chemical disaster in India 20 years ago? Union Carbide called Burson-Marsteller.

Three days after 9/11 the government of Saudi Arabia called Burson-Marsteller.

Terrifying Romanian dictator Nicolai Ceausescu? You guessed it: Burson-Marsteller.

When a military junta overthrew the government of Argentina in 1976, who did the generals call? Burson-Marsteller.

The government of Indonesia, accused of genocide in East Timor? Quick, someone look up the number for Burson-Marsteller.


Now Burson-Marsteller has their newest marquee public relations client: Blackwater.

You can kinda see why it's a little bit gross that the CEO of Burson-Marsteller is Hillary Clinton's pollster and chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn.

You can kinda see why that is a little disgusting...

[Captain Hilts]

1. They're ALL like that. That's why I'm no longer in polling. Yuck! nt

[aquart]

3. So whoever she hired would be scum?

I get it. Hillary should do this on her own, without help. Like the others.

[jgraz]

4. Yes, that's exactly the point you should take away from this

:eyes:

[The Magistrate]

6. It Is A Little More Subtle Than That, Mr. Graz

It is in the nature of the public relations business that most clients will be rotters: it is people with image problems that hire such firms, and people with image problems generally deserve them. Most any large public relations firm's list of clients will read like a rogue's gallery of people who by rights ought to die in a six by eight cell, un-tended and un-mourned. The more skilled a company's staff is at altering public perceptions, the worse will be the clients it attracts: they need real mind-bending; cosmetics will not do. Mr. Penn in any case was not associated with the firm before a few years ago: his company was bought by a London-based conglomerate that also owned Burston-Marsteller, and subsequently they offered him the position there. Doubtless they did not give him a brief to fire all its skilled staff, and burn their lists of contacts and clients....

[jgraz]

8. Do the other candidates have a top-tier PR CEO as their chief strategist?

The question is about Hillary's choices as to what kind of a campaign she wants to run. This is the man who shapes her message. Is this the kind of person you want to have influence over a president?

You also can't write-off the history of the company he leads. He's the CEO, not some random employee. You don't get handed the reins of a company if you have a problem with their methods.

[Bluebear]

11. Burson-Marsteller's "Health care unit": How much are they shaping HRC's health plan?

However, American and Canadian pharmaceutical and insurance companies that want to crack open the Canadian market are frustrated by the fact that Canadians are very happy with their health care system. Worse yet, more and more Americans, especially in Vermont, are now calling for the introduction of single-payer health insurance in their country--a step in the direction of a Canadian-style system. This presents a grave problem for neoliberal demagogues, since it exposes the basic conflict between capitalism and democracy.

Enter Burson-Marsteller's health care unit, whose staff includes "a medical doctor/physician; former FDA (Food and Drug Administration) commissioner; former hospital administrator; former pharmaceutical communications executives; former non-profit communications chiefs; grassroots specialists, and former reporters" according to the senior editor of O'Dwyer's newsletter, which monitors the PR business.

B-M has plenty of experience in matters of public health. On behalf of client Philip Morris, B-M created the National Smokers' Alliance (NSA) to fight against smoking restrictions. According to John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, the NSA "is a state-of-the-art campaign that uses full- page newspaper ads, direct telemarketing, paid canvassers, (toll free) numbers and newsletters to bring thousands of smokers into its ranks each week. By 1995 NSA claimed a membership of 3 million smokers". The NSA is headed by B-M vice-president Thomas Humber and its members include B-M executives Pierre Salinger and Kennetz Rietz, as well as Peter Kelly, senior partner of B-M subsidiary Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly (see sidebar). In addition to this, B-M was hired by the A.H. Robbins company when its Dalkon Shield IUD contraceptive injured thousands of women who used it, and it is now currently promoting the 'virtues' of Eli Lilly's anti-depressant wonder drug Prozac.

http://home.intekom.com/tm_info/ge_bm.htm

[The Magistrate]

57. Probably Not Much, Sir: The Latest Citation In that Piece Is Twelve Years Old

Long before Mr. Penn was associated with the firm. The article's claim NAFTA would destroy Canada's health care arrangements has not panned out, and whatever efforts the company made in that direction clearly failed.

[loudsue]

61. Pierre Salinger??? Tell me that's not so!!

Yuck!

[crikkett]

17. I agree with you on this. Hillary Clinton is the PR candidate.

[The Magistrate]

53. He Began His Career as A Pollster, Sir

Associated with the Clintons from President Clinton's first term. They consider him to have been of great use in winning elections for them; he is good at that. That is why Sen. Clinton is employing him at a high level in her campaign: she is not in this for the exercise or the media exposure, she is serious about taking a seat in the Oval Office. When you hire a shootist, you are concerned with how well he handles the gun, not his views on trans-substantiation.

You final comment is none to clear; you may have substituted 'client list' for 'methods'. The methods of all public relations firms are the same: they seek to craft some line that will present a client in a favorable light, however difficult that may be, and do a great deal of polling and focus-grouping and rolo-dex working to craft that line and disseminate it. The owners of that company doubtless consider Mr. Penn a master of these crafts, and so well suited to direct the firm's nuts and bolts operations on behalf of whatever clients will pay for its services. Professionals are engaged in many fields to employ their expertise on behalf of clients they neither like nor agree with, and in many cases actively despise.

[jgraz]

58. OK, let's look at where he began his career.

He founded Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. According to SourceWatch, "Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially 'exit polls,' in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support."


Wow, I feel better already.

[The Magistrate]

62. That Is Something Of An Exaggeration, Sir

And a statement by someone who felt the ouster of Bloody Slobo from rule of Serbia was a bad thing....

What has us talking past one another, Sir, is that you do not recognize that professionals work for clients, and do what they are paid to do. Amateurs do it for love; professionals do it for money. Put bluntly, my preference is for professionals: the level of service is more consistent.

[jgraz]

63. There are other professionals to choose from

For example, Obama has a professional Democratic campaign consultant as his strategist, not some PR hack. The choice of Penn is yet another example of Clintonian, winning-is-the-only-thing mentality.

What her choice tells me is that we can not trust any of her campaign statements as indications of how she'll govern. She's being sold to us like so much soda pop.

[antigop]

64. There is a reason why Time Magazine referred to the "Clinton brand"

Marketing 101:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653659,00.html
Why we buy
>>
Enter the world of marketing. The power of name recognition helps explain the multibillion-dollar business of plastering brand names on everything from ballpoint pens to NASCAR racers as well as the thriving cottage industry of reviving brands that have fallen out of mainstream use, like Ovaltine chocolate malt and Westinghouse televisions. "We tend to believe, If I've heard of before, it's probably because it's popular, and popular things are good," says Dan Goldstein, an assistant professor of marketing at London Business School.

...
That's true even when the stakes are high. A study published last year looked at how we choose an airline. Researchers at Germany's University of Cologne asked participants to pick between two carriers--one familiar and one unknown. Predictably, an overwhelming number chose the airline they recognized. What was surprising was that many stuck with it even as the researchers gave negative cues about its safety. With three troubling bits of information--like past accidents--67% of study participants remained loyal to the airline they knew.
>>

A previous issue of Time referred to the "Clinton brand".

[The Magistrate]

66. Elections, Ma'am, Are Highly Specialized Forms Of Marketting

To complain of this is to complain of the sun's rising in the east.

It is in the nature of the beast, and cannot be escaped. Elections are exercises in building group identities, in persuading a great mass of people to identify with a candidate, and with one another as part of the movement behind that candidate. It is an emotional, not a rational, process. People who value outsider status are poorly suited either to understand it or comment sensibly on it, and will never be near direction of it.

[antigop]

68. Oh, cut the condescension. I'm tired of it. I know all about marketing.

And why are you calling me "Ma'am"?

<edit to add> I know all about union-busting tactics, too.

[The Magistrate]

70. As A Matter Of Curiousity, Ma'am, Do You Think It Helps To Claim You Are Being Condescended To?

[antigop]

71. You didn't answer the question. Nice try. n/t

[The Magistrate]

65. You Mean The Local Boy, Mr. Axelrod, Sir?

He is hand in glove with Rep. Emmanuel, who it is an article of faith among some here is the demonic face of the D.L.C. in its war against the 'real' Democrats of the web, and a leading apparatchik in the Clinton machine. He has also never been majorly involved in a Presidential campaign, and in fact, has yet to show he is more than a good AAA ball-player. Still, we will see: sometimes the rookie smokes the old vet....

[illinoisprogressive]

87. magistrate, Axel;rod has not worked for Emmanuel

[LibertyorDeath]

83. Couldn't have said it better

"The more skilled a company's staff is at altering public perceptions, the worse will be the clients it attracts:"

Thanks for summing her up so well...

:toast:

[On the Road]

91. Thank You Magristrate,

I hadn't been following this closely and that clarifies the issue a lot. ]

I suppose you could ask why Penn would assume control of a company like Burson-Marsteller, but as you point out PR is for clients who need it. On the other hand, most of the complaints do not seem to be about his personal clients, or current clients at all.

Blackwater does disturb me a little, because presumably it's a recent client and Penn would likely be involved personally. Even given the requirements of the profession, it is troubling to think of Clinton's chief strategist simultaneously putting his efforts to the goal changing people's minds on Blackwater.

Of course, there is another way to read this as well. The Republican anti-PR campaign against Hillary Clinton may have cut so deeply into the popular mind that she feels the need to ally herself with the darkest practitioner of the art.

[Captain Hilts]

5. The creepiest clients hire firms of BOTH political persuasions, tobacco, PhRMA...

all do this.

If you don't have a problem, you don't need a pollster, PR firm....

[jgraz]

13. Again, the problem is not that a PR CEO is scummy

It's that one of OUR candidates has a scummy PR CEO as her Chief Strategist. Not just her campaign pollster, her Chief Strategist.

This is the man shaping the message of our "inevitable" candidate. Are you OK with that? Do you feel we can still rely on Hillary to give us straight, honest answers?

[gateley]

29. No I'm not okay with that. She can "buy" the biggest and the best. That she does

sends me a strong message.

[emilyg]

49. I'm OK with that, too.

[jgraz]

52. Care to elaborate?

Why would you be ok with Hillary's hiring of a top advisor who "played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially 'exit polls,' in facilitating coups"??

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Penn%2C_Schoen_%26_Berland

[emilyg]

75. Yes, I'll elaborate

I'm a senior citizen - this might be the last election that I participate in. Most of my political decisions are made with my children and grandchildren - their future - in mind.
No one candidate is perfect. Even though i support Hillary - any Dem is better than a repug.

[jgraz]

76. I didn't ask if this changed your candidate, I asked if your were OK with it

I'm leaning towards Edwards right now, but I am emphatically NOT ok with his stand on gay marriage or his vote for the war. Why is it that only the Hillary supporters seem to want to gloss over ANY possible flaws in their candidate?

[emilyg]

81. I said none of them are perfect. I'm willing to overlook more this time around.

that's how much I want a Dem in WH.

[waiting for hope]

84. I have two small children -

Ages 6 and 2 - their future is one of the most important issues in my life (aside from their health and happiness). Hillary does not inspire me, she does not offer me hope for the future, she does not give clear answers on what she is proposing. Edwards is looking toward the future. With him, I see:

Universal Health Care

Opportunity Through College for Everyone

Strengthening of the Public School System

I want change - Edwards will shake up the Washington insiders for he knows that's the only way things will change, for US, and a better future for America.

[emilyg]

89. We're working towards the same end. Getting rid of repugs.

Edwards is a good man.

[noamnety]

2. k&r (nt)

[lostnotforgotten]

7. Just One More Reason - I Will Not Support Hillary As The Nominee!

eom

[jgraz]

10. Umm...I think you meant "Just", not "Lust"

But, really, it works either way. :rofl:

[lostnotforgotten]

14. Thanks!

eom

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. The polls aren't straight? Then why would the MSM constantly peddle them?

Oh.. errr... never mind. I assume they're peddled on here to earn our derision. We know how the people around feel about situations, thank you. That's why we knew Kerry would walk the election, whatever way it might be stolen from him.

[durrrty libby]

12. "Mark Penn did no work on the Blackwater account.

Burson has cut its ties to Blackwater and that was the right thing to do. Mark is and remains a valuable member of our team," said Phil Singer, a Clinton campaign spokesman. "Sen. Clinton believes Blackwater must be held accountable for its actions and has laid out a detailed proposal"


http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/10/05/blackwater_ties_fodder_for_pol.html?hpid=sec-politics

[jgraz]

15. He's the freaking CEO

Are you saying he didn't know about this decision before it was made? This isn't a multi-national conglomerate, it's a PR firm. There's no way he wasn't part of the decision on this.

[Bluebear]

18. "I did not have public relations with that man, Mr. Blackwater!"

[jgraz]

20. *snrk*

Lucky I wasn't drinking coffee when I saw that. :spray:

[ImpeechBush]

90. lol!!

very funny

[durrrty libby]

22. There is the article. You of course can draw whatever conclusion you wish

[jgraz]

23. The conclusion I draw is that this guy is scum

And so is any candidate who hires him.

[calteacherguy]

28. What's wrong with being a CEO? And the bigger issue, why do you care who he represents?

He's not running for President.

[jgraz]

33. Missing the point

Nothing wrong with being a CEO, but something wrong with being the CEO for a scumbag PR Firm whose job it is to polish the image of despots around the world.

And the "he's not running for president" trope is just bogus. This is the kind of person Hillary chooses to advise her. What does that say about her judgment and her values?

[durrrty libby]

56. It is just the same old faux outrage and histrionics that is boringly predictable

at The DU.:boring:

[papau]

44. Penn was hired 2 years ago and for last year was on leave to work as Hillary's Pollster n/t

[jgraz]

46. No, he was *promoted* two years ago. He's been with the company for much longer

He was previously head of Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, a wholly-owned subsidiary of B-M. Here's a sample of his work prior to his promotion:

Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially "exit polls," in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support.

[papau]

47. Penn Schoen was bought in 2001 by WPP as a new division - not reporting

though BM in any way. BM was purchased by WPP in 2000.

WPP as dozens of divisions/companies - he was CEO of one division - the company he started - and became CEO of BM 2 years ago.

[jgraz]

50. So just the coup-plotting, then

Sorry, this doesn't make me feel any better about the guy.

[Bjorn Against]

19. Penn was the CEO of the company that had these accounts

Most CEOs do not work on any of their accounts directly, they hire other people to do that. But they are ultimately in charge of the direction the company takes and the type of accounts they choose to work with. If he wanted to say no to Blackwater he easily could have. No Penn may not work on these accounts directly, but he is ultimately the one in charge of them.

[emilyg]

51. Thank you.

[Joanne98]

16. The H in Hillary must stand for hypocrisy!!!!!

[Canuckistanian]

21. Much, much more about Burson-Marstellar at SourceWatch

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller

Hillary shouldn't have gone within 10 feet of a PR group like this.

They're bad news all around.

[shireen]

24. just wondering, how long has Penn been CEO of that company? nt

[bigdarryl]

25. Penn would be in her Administration in fact all these people running her campaign will...

have a roll in her administration.

[Generator]

Let's put a face to the monster

http://leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id=406

(if you click you get a picture)

Mark J. Penn has spent over thirty years as an advisor and polling analyst to major corporations and heads of state. Time magazine has called him "The Master of the Message" and The New York Times has called him "The Guru of Small Things" because of his unique ability to find and motivate niche groups in society.

In his work, he combines innovative techniques—micro-targeting, issue-based messaging and visual message testing—to win major corporate, marketing and political battles.

~

He's also who we have to blame for the term "soccer moms." I think that's proabably the deal breaker for moi. Fascinating also, no? that Hillary is doing SO DAMN WELL in polls and Penn is a polling analyst. WOW.

More fodder:

Credentials

CEO, Burson-Marsteller
President, Penn, Schoen and Berland
Author, Microtrends
Pollster of the Year, American Association of Political Consultants
NPI Fellow, New Politics Institute
Key advisor to President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Key advisor to Bill Gates and Microsoft for the past six years


Other clients include AT&T, Coca-Cola, American Express, and Novartis.

[jgraz]

26. I wonder how Al Gore feels about this.

Not only did he fire Penn from his campaign, but B-M has been one of the leaders in greenwashing corporations and opposing any action on global warming.

Maybe this will have a positive effect on the chances that he'll enter the race.

[calteacherguy]

27. Why does it matter? He's not the one running for President.

He's a campaign strategist. I don't get the issue here.

[Colobo]

31. Look at the Bush administration, and what a "campaign strategist" helped cause.

[calteacherguy]

35. Who is Obama's campaign manager? nt

[Colobo]

37. Axelrod.

[calteacherguy]

39. Link? nt

[Colobo]

41. Actually, it's David Plouffe. Axelrod is the strategist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Plouffe

[jgraz]

43. More importantly, Axelrod is a professional campaign strategist, not a PR hack

His firm, AKP&D Message and Media, works exclusively for Democratic political campaigns. Their primary focus is media consulting.

No tobacco companies, no despotic third-world dictators, no coup attempts. Just good old American politicians. Democrats.



Now ask yourself: why didn't Ms. Inevitable hire a campaign strategist like that?

[calteacherguy]

45. Interesting info. on Axelrod. The way Obama is running is campaign is straight of his book.

Obama, Clinton, John Edwards and Chris Dodd — and one who dropped out (Tom Vilsack); framed the messages for the new young governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick; and served as the chief political adviser for Representative Rahm Emanuel when the congressman helped orchestrate the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives last fall.

<snip>

“So many consultants are fighting the last war, but David is fighting the next one, and that makes him very, very dangerous,” the Republican consultant Mike Murphy told me.

After the consecutive presidential losses of Al Gore and John Kerry, patrician candidates who ran ill-fitting “people versus the powerful” campaigns designed for them by the consultant Bob Shrum, many Democrats began to suspect that part of what was wrong with the party was its formulaic consultants. The party has suffered, Axelrod says, from a “Wizard of Oz syndrome among Washington political consultants who tend to come to candidates and say: I have the stone tablets! You do what I say, and you will get elected. And they fit their candidates into their rubric.”

Axelrod’s is a less grand, postideological approach, and his campaigns are rooted less in issues than in the particulars of his candidate’s life. For him, running campaigns hitched to personality rather than ideology is a way of reclaiming fleeting authenticity. It is also, more and more, the way of the Democratic Party. Its 2006 Congressional campaign strategy — run by Axelrod’s close friend Emanuel, with the Chicago consultant acting as principal sounding board — did not depend on any great idea of where the party ought to go, like the last political cataclysm, Newt Gingrich’s 1994 House “revolution.” As they have reclaimed power, the Democrats have done so not by moving appreciably to the left or the right; rather, they have done so by allowing their candidates to move in both directions at once. “What David is basically doing — and this is somewhat new for Democrats — isn’t trying to figure out how to sell policies,” says the Democratic media consultant Saul Shorr. “It’s a matter of personality. How do we sell leadership?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01axelrod.t.html

[loudsue]

67. Why in the HELL do they credit Emanuel for the Dems win???

"... and served as the chief political adviser for Representative Rahm Emanuel when the congressman helped orchestrate the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives last fall."

This is the line we keep getting from the republican press, and I call BULLSHIT. Dean's 50-state strategy is what got Dems elected, over the HUGE margin the republicans get for programming the voting machines. Emanuel is a smug, lying, smarmy, skanky asshole bastard that is DLC all the way up to his republican elephant ears.

:kick:

[jgraz]

74. Mostly because Emanuel grabbed credit

He was (and perhaps still is) in a struggle with Howard Dean for the direction of the party. Dean's 50-state strategy turned out to be a huge success, while Emanuel's candidates (e.g. Tammy Duckworth) lost the general elections or were beaten from the left in the primaries.

Look at how many DLC regulars went out to flack for Rahm right after the elections. It was a major PR effort that most of the MSM still buys into.

[Moochy]

86. self promoting little weasel.

Did you see him on Real time? He seemed a bit sloppy. In his defense he was not as sniveling or despicable as
I expected. He even referred to himself as "That dick, Rahm Emmanuel" Yet another point of agreement with the congressman. :D

[Jim Sagle]

88. It's a Seinfeld campaign - about nothing.

The same crap Bill Clinton peddled so successfully - for him. For the rest of us, not so much.

[jgraz]

42. Campaign manager and Chief Strategist are different positions

It's very important to make that distinction. Both have input into the process, but a campaign manager is more like the producer of a movie. He makes sure the trains run on time. The biggest responsibility of a campaign manager is handling the overall budget for the campaign.

The chief strategist is more like the director. In the case of a movie, every frame that appears on the screen is crafted and approved by the director. In a campaign, the chief strategist fills this role with regard to the candidate's message. This person is ultimately responsible for every speech, every statement and (in many cases) every policy that comes out of a campaign.

And the person Hillary has chosen to help shape her message is the same person who tried to use bogus exit polling data to unseat the democratically elected leader of Venezuela. Doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies?

[jgraz]

32. Yeah, he kinda is

He's the Chief Campaign Strategist, the man in charge of Hillary's message. He's the person who helps "sell" Hillary to the rest of us.

And, btw, the person who really IS running for president hired this scumbag, even knowing his history and the history of his company. I'd go so far to say that she hired him because of his history.

[calteacherguy]

34. So will you condemn lawyers who defend criminals as well? nt

[Colobo]

36. Puerto Rican Saying: "Tell me who you hang out with

and I'll tell you who you are."

[jgraz]

40. Another bogus argument but yes, in some cases I do.

If that criminal defendent is a huge multi-national corporation and said attorney makes his money defending corporations against the results of their criminal activities, then I would also have a bug problem with that attorney being an advisor for a candidate.

[jgraz]

30. Also important if you care about election reform

From the SourceWatch entry on Penn's PR Firm, Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates:


Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially "exit polls," in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support.

---

PSB received negative attention for polling it did during the August 2004 Venezuelan recall election of President Hugo Chavez:

"Exit Poll Results Show Major Defeat for Chavez" the survey, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, asserted even as Sunday's voting was still on. But in fact, the opposite was true - Chavez ended up trouncing his enemies and capturing 59 percent of the vote.

PSB's Venezuela poll raised eyebrows for several reasons: the opposition to Hugo Chavez seized upon it as proof that "the results from the vote itself were fraudulent"; the poll results "were sent out by fax and e-mail to media outlets and opposition offices more than four hours before polls closed," in violation of Venezuelan law; "members of Sumate, a Venezuelan group that helped organize the recall initiative, did the fieldwork for the poll"; and remarks to media went beyond poll results and analysis to election commentary - Mark Penn told Associated Press that Doug Schoen "believes there were more problems with the voting than with the exit poll."

---

And we wonder why Hillary has been so silent on election reform?

[Generator]

38. Who is Mark Penn and why is he important?

I really am beginning to wonder if this dude isn't the source of all our troubles going back ten years.


http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/6/9588/78005

Morris (Dick) knew Penn from his days as a pollster in New York and brought him into the White House. Morris decided what to poll and Penn polled it. They immediately pushed Clinton to the right, enacting the now-infamous strategy of "triangulation," which co-opted Republican policies like welfare reform and tax cuts and emphasized small-bore issues that supposedly cut across the ideological divide. "They were the ones who said 'Make the '96 election about nothing except V-Chips and school uniforms,'" says a former Clinton adviser. When Morris got caught with a call girl, Penn became the most important adviser in Clinton's second term. "In a White House where polling is virtually a religion," the Washington Post reported in 1996, "Penn is the high priest." He became known as the "most powerful man in Washington you've never heard of."

Forget Blackwater! He's the reason the Clinton's have become Republican lite. Of course they bare ultimate responsibility for adopting his advice.

[ShortnFiery]

48. Democratic KICK for Rachel Maddow's spot on analysis.

:dem:

[jillan]

54. The problem with this

Is that the majority of Americans will never know this.

[jgraz]

55. And apparently many of her supporters know but just don't care

:shrug:

[jillan]

59. Even if they did - even if there was no one on DU that supported her

the majority of Americans still wouldn't know - because they won't ever hear about it on CNN - or wherever they get their news.

[jgraz]

60. Hopefully Edwards' attacks on this will get some attention

Of course, the media only pays attention to his hair, so it's not likely.

[durrrty libby]

77. Personally, I don't give a dead bird's ass.

[Name removed]

78. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LWolf]

69. I can "kinda" see how that's a "little" disgusting,

if "kinda" means "blinded by the glare," and "little" means "overwhelmingly", lol.

[jgraz]

72. Yeah, you really can't capture Rachel's tone in a transcript

The clip conveys her meaning quite well, though.

I still have hope as long as people like Rachel have a voice.

[XemaSab]

73. These people are evil...

Define your company—before your opponents define it for you. We can help.

Integrated into seamless client teams, our practitioners also provide specialized expertise in areas such as:

Labor Relations
Burson-Marsteller has developed a specialized capability surrounding labor relations communications, whether it be for companies engaged in contract renewal negotiations; companies facing strikes or lock-outs at negotiation impasse; companies facing the constant deluge of negative publicity and attacks through a "corporate campaign;" or companies pursuing more positive partnerships with labor organizations. We seek to position companies in a way that is first consistent with, and complementary to, their existing corporate reputation, brand promises and commitments, and then provide the company with greater control of its critical reputations and relationships, and therefore able to effectively pursue its strategic goals. For each company in its own unique situation, this requires a different approach.

Corporate Social Responsibility
Stakeholder Engagement
Our approach to stakeholder engagement is built on two pillars: relationships with NGOs that influence agendas affecting corporate operations and reputation; and a proven set of tools for identifying and engaging the NGOs and stakeholders that matter most.

Our NGO expertise stems from long-standing professional and personal relationships that our Corporate Responsibility team has with influential international organizations. We leverage these relationships to understand NGO advocacy and campaign methods and approaches; to develop communications strategies that address issues so that we can counsel clients on how to engage in productive dialogues and develop partnerships.

Coalition & Issues Management
In addition, the Burson-Marsteller Issues & Advocacy Practice also offers a wealth of experience and expertise in industry-specific issue areas, such as:

Food Safety
From the farm to the table, our experience with many agricultural and food clients has demonstrated that we must constantly strive to stay in touch with society's changing expectations. We help clients address new science, emerging threats, regulatory issues, NGO and media scrutiny, product recalls, food safety legislation and litigation.

Our experience shows that we can make a meaningful difference in meeting diverse stakeholder expectations: safeguarding public health, protecting product brand and organizational reputations, enhancing the safety of the food supply, as well as restoring markets and reassuring consumers following recalls and outbreaks of food-borne illness.

Environment, Sustainability & Climate Change
Burson-Marsteller's team of environmental communications consultants includes professionals with strong experience in issues management, crisis communications and reputation management. They also have a strong understanding of the complex regulatory, political and social landscapes that influence how natural resources are protected, conserved and used.

Burson-Marsteller aligns a unique environmental knowledge and expertise with diverse communications capabilities to help clients inform and engage key stakeholders about sustainable business practices and environmental stewardship.

Climate Change Working Group Report

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The Burson-Marsteller International Affairs/Country Representation Team consists of seasoned communications professionals who have achieved a wide range of relevant experience in the reputation management, international affairs and media relations arenas. Members of this bi-partisan team have worked on behalf of numerous international clients, both in the U.S. and in-country. Furthermore, many members of our senior team have themselves served as U.S. government officials in the areas of national security, trade and commerce, and diplomatic positions, as well as on relevant Congressional Committees.

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Burson-Marsteller's Congressional Investigations team is comprised of former Capitol Hill staffers, political insiders and former journalists. We have a profound understanding of the Hill and bring that expertise to you. We will help you anticipate, plan and prepare for congressional hearings and investigations that affect your organizations and industries, as well as navigate through the political and legal and legislative process on Capitol Hill. This service is focused on preparing clients for the communication challenges surrounding government oversight, regulation and compliance.

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Burson-Marsteller enjoys a long, rich background of trade communications. Applying a broad range of public relations expertise to complex trade issues, the firm's experience includes a number of high-profile cases and negotiations, from helping pass NAFTA to reducing U.S. and Canadian barriers to lumber sales. Burson-Marsteller has helped public and private clients alike communicate their point of view on Capitol Hill legislation or White House regulation.

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Burson-Marsteller leverages its cadre of experts from multiple disciplines, extensive internal resources and strong external alliances to support high-end, multi-discipline fundraising and capital campaigns. We use a broad and effective array of communications techniques to generate awareness and support for fundraising programs for government and nonprofit organizations.

[Gloria]

79. Esp. since he apparently spies on people....not just spies, but

manipulates their email

[jgraz]

80. Huh? Did I miss something?

[LibertyorDeath]

82. The bloom is of the Rose LOL !

[illinoisprogressive]

85. well, the Clintons know Penn and Co., help out the corrupt......

It would help if we emailed and kept it up with the msm to get this out on the air for average voters to be aware of things.