Mark Penn appreciation thread

[galaxy21]

This man has earned $6 million for doing nothing.

An inspiration to slackers everywhere.

But seriously, doesn't he have some sort of track record of success somewhere? He must have helped someone win something, or Clinton wouldn't have hired him, surely?

[walldude]

1. Well he's Bob Shrum's replacement

what do you expect...

[Johnny__Motown]

2. I suggest Hillary pay him a $2 million bonus

[jakem]

6. she cant afford it, but Obama owes him a bit to be fair-

[Botany]

Capt. Penn

[SteppingRazor]

3. He actually mostly does PR, not politics, but...

in the political realm, he's pretty much stuck with the Clintons. He was Bill's chief pollster in his 1996 re-election campaign, then served as a sort of spin doctor throughout the second term. And then, he was a bigwig in Hillary's run at the Senate.

So, his previous forays into politics have actually been largely successful.

[NJSecularist]

7. He was one of the candidates to be Gore's chief campaign strategist.

But he rubbed Al the wrong way. Gore chose Bob Shrum instead.

[SteppingRazor]

8. Yeah, and that worked out so well!

Of course, Shrum has had a much longer career in politics than Penn, so it's obvious that he's going to have more wins and losses than Penn. As far as my own opinion, I think Penn has run a fairly flawed campaign this time around, and this is really the first heavily contested campaign he has run. He had an incumbent in 1996, and he had a person with massive name recognition running for Senate in Hillary. The more I look at his campaign in 2008, the more I feel like, when it finally came time to step up to the plate, Penn wasn't a very able campaigner.

[NJSecularist]

10. I'd give Shrum another try. He should have won in 2000.

2004 is a different story, but he has been put in some difficult circumstances. Considering the fact that Kerry lost the popular vote by almost 3 milion, and we could have won the presidency by winning 120,000 more votes in Ohio, it's hard for me to say that Shrum ran that bad of a campaign.

In addition, Penn is a closet Republican and has some unsavory connection. Shrum is a liberal and has fought for gay rights, among other things, all his life. In short, Shrum is much easier to like.

I have to agree with you, though. This is Penn's first contested election and he hasn't impressed. He'll probably get another job on the national scale, however.

[NJSecularist]

4. He was one of the key's to Bill's re-election in 1996

He was the "brainchild" of the school uniform idea among other things. He was his chief pollster, one of his right hand men in his attempts to triangulate.

[galaxy21]

5. Mark Penn in everyday life...

*gets parking ticket*

'this doesn't count because it was given in a red state with lots of African Americans!'

[stellanoir]

9. crickets

[psychmommy]

11. thanks mark penn

you have helped pull the curtain back on the Clinton's. you have allowed me and others to see what hillary was really about. i am so happy that i didn't give her my vote. because of your crappy job, i won't have to give her my vote. thanks a million.