CNN: Edwards raps Clinton aide for Blackwater ties

[Colobo]

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat John Edwards said Friday the top strategist for presidential rival Hillary Clinton has ties to the controversial Blackwater security firm, and warned against installing "a group of corporate Democrats" to replace the Bush White House.

Edwards suggested similarities between Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, and the Republican president.

"George Bush has been a perfect example of cronyism because Blackwater has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans and to President Bush," he said in an interview with
The Associated Press.

"I also saw this morning that Senator Clinton's primary adviser, Mark Penn, who is like her Karl Rove, his firm is representing Blackwater."

"It is the reason I continue to say we don't want to replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats," he said. Blackwater is a private security firm whose employees have been accused of using their weapons too aggressively against Iraqi civilians and police.

Penn, Clinton's pollster and senior strategist, is the worldwide president of Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm. A subsidiary, BKSH, helped prepare Blackwater founder Erik Prince for a contentious congressional hearing this week, but Burson-Marsteller says the relationship has ended.

Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said Penn had done no work on the Blackwater account.

"Burson has cut its ties to Blackwater and that was the right thing to do," Wolfson said. "Mark is and remains a valuable member of our team."

Click here to CNN's new political portal: CNNPolitics.com


Penn's association with Burson has caused headaches for the Clinton campaign in the past.

The firm represents corporate clients accused of union-busting activity, as well as tobacco giant Philip Morris. While Penn says he does not personally work on any accounts that could be construed as anti-labor, labor leaders including Teamsters president James Hoffa have publicly expressed concern about his involvement with the campaign.

Edwards made his comments as he campaigned in Iowa, where caucuses early next year will provide the first test of the campaign for the crowded field of presidential rivals.

He called for a ban to prevent private security companies from donating to politicians, alleging that Blackwater won lucrative contracts in Iraq after becoming a reliable contributor to the GOP.

Edwards also said he favors steps that would virtually eliminate the use of private contractors to provide security services for government officials in Iraq. Private forces have spiraled out of control, he said, with more than 50,000 operating in Iraq with few
restrictions.

Wolfson said Clinton, too, favors curbs on Blackwater.

"Senator Clinton believes Blackwater must be held accountable for its actions and has laid out a detailed proposal to sharply reduce the number of contractors employed by the federal government by 500,000," he said.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/06/edwards-raps-clinton-aide-for-blackwater-ties/#more-2384

[TwilightGardener]

1. So...now that Hillary's tie to Blackwater has been exposed, the PR

firm cuts off its ties to BW. Nothing to see here, folks--move along! Nothing to see!

[Colobo]

2. LOL!

[grasswire]

3. Edwards was very clear about mercenaries

He said, on Countdown, that mercenaries have no place in American warfare and he would not allow them were he CiC. He said in the extremely rare instance where security must be hired, it would be under the command of the Pentagon and subject to military code. He earned a LOT of points with me for that standard.

[Colobo]

4. Good for John.

[Generator]

5. Good for Edwards

As bad as Blackwater is, it's supposed to be an ended liason.

However, Mark Penn is the one that got the Clinton's to go the right ten years ago and we have been paying for it ever since.


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

But perhaps the most important figure in the campaign is her pollster and chief strategist, Mark Penn, a combative workaholic. Penn is not yet a household name, but perhaps he should be. Inside Hillaryland, he has elaborately managed the centrist image Hillary has cultivated in the Senate. The campaign is polling constantly, and Penn's interpretation of the numbers will in large part decide her political direction.

Yet Penn is no ordinary pollster. Beyond his connections to the Clintons, he not only polls for America's biggest companies but also runs one of the world's premier PR agencies.

snip

Morris 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."

[seemslikeadream]

6. ooopsy my bad

[Colobo]

7. LOL!

[BenDavid]

8. Edwards is trying anything and everything

to place a dent in the HRC campaign. Thus far nothing he or his wife has done has worked. Maybe after February 15th Edwards will go quietly into the night.

"Senator Clinton believes Blackwater must be held accountable for its actions and has laid out a detailed proposal to sharply reduce the number of contractors employed by the federal government by 500,000," This is all Senator Clinton's campaign had to put out on this issue and that's that.....Next incoming bomb will be a dude too.....

Ben David

[Bluebear]

9. Yes, this is all about Edwards, not Clinton having Mark Penn as her strategist

:silly:

[grasswire]

10. sharply reduce?

Let's sharply reduce the number of mercenaries?

Not good enough, Hillary.

[illinoisprogressive]

11. CNN needs to be airing this so people know. not everyone reads blogs.