Paul Begala on Mark Penn: "it became almost a Rumsfeldian thing. And he is not even fired."

[Pirate Smile]

Begala: 'Nothing but contempt' for Penn

Paul Begala at a New York breakfast this morning, via HuffPo:

"I have nothing but contempt for Mr. Penn," said Begala at a New York City breakfast sponsored by the non-profit group Public Agenda. "And for those of us who wanted to see him out from the beginning, it became almost a Rumsfeldian thing. And he is not even fired. He has been demoted. How could this be?"

Begala, it's worth noting, is a key consultant to Progressive Media USA, the new Democratic independent money group.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Begala_Nothing_but_contempt_for_Penn.html

Sen. Clinton's campaign should truly serve as a warning to us regarding how an Administration of hers would be run.

That is harsher then I normally like get regarding her, but, damn, I just don't get it considering what a smart person she is supposed to be - her campaign is a huge, red warning sign. :wtf:


Edit to add more:

"“Penn is looking to target non-Catholic Latino woman. All two of them… He slices the baloney incredibly thin. And in addition to being a political strategist, he is heading one of the biggest public relations firm in Washington, which is a huge conflict of interest. The campaign ended up looking like Exxon Mobil instead of what it really is… this campaign has been so incremental and corporate.”


Edit to add even more:

"WP: Power Lunch Alert! - Mark Penn lunches with Karen Hughes

Spotted at lunch Wednesday at the pricey D.C. restaurant Il Mulino: Mark Penn, Burson-Marsteller chief and former chief strategist and major player in Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

His luncheon companion? None other than Karen P. Hughes, longtime Bush aide, White House counselor and State Department public diplomacy czar. We're told mutual friends arranged this as a "get-to-know-you lunch" while she was in town for a State Department public diplomacy award.

But what would the two PR wizards have discussed? Obviously not politics. Maybe Hughes, who surely would have a number of potential Mideast clients -- despite having had some rocky days over there -- would come work for Penn's firm? Maybe a little chit-chat over their favorite PR strategies? NAFTA?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041003358.html


Good Lord! This stuff reminds me of when Bill was complementing Karl Rove after the 2004 campaign.

[thevoiceofreason]

1. Penn - like Rumsfeld, only richer.

Hillary - like George, only less able to learn from precedent

[Pirate Smile]

3. Coupled with the Bosnia lies and the financial mismanagement - ugghhhh.

[flpoljunkie]

10. Begala also calls Ed Rendell's idea to look at candidates based on electoral college votes "silly."

On Friday, Begala addressed other, perhaps more pertinent, topics related to the 2008 campaign. He expressed bewilderment over the structure of the Democratic primary, which will have no candidate receiving the needed number of pledged delegate support. But as for one of the inventive measures the Clinton camp has floated as a metric for superdelegates to decide the nominee -- Rendell's idea to look at how each candidate has done based on the Electoral College votes they would receive in a general election match-up -- Begala called that "silly."

That aside, Begala did not show great concern that the clash between Clinton and Obama would come back to haunt the party. Unless, he added, it was taken to the convention.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/11/begala-nothing-but-contem_n_96226.html

[roguevalley]

16. he's been a pretty steadfast hillary guy. this must be an eye opener

even he can't ignore. i remember hearing him blast obama and tout her on a few shows of late. i wonder how much even they can take.

[GarbagemanLB]

2. And we thought Bush was bad with cronyism? I can't even imagine what her administration would be lik

e

[SwampG8r]

4. as to her smarts

i seem to feel like the same people who told us how "smart" she is are the same ones covering up her every lies now
which makes me feel like they were lying when they convinced us she was sooooooooo smart

is this the campaign of a smart person? or an ego driven narcissist?

[ROakes1019]

8. Smarts?

Let us not forget that this "smart" woman failed the bar exam when she graduated from law school. I believe she then went to another state, maybe Arkansas, when she ultimately did pass. But smarts?

[redqueen]

5. I detect a distinct loosening of the wheels

on her campaign.

[TahitiNut]

6. The problem is obvious. The wheels need more lug NUTS!

:evilgrin: Folks who demean us nuts OFTEN have their wheels come off.

:rofl:

[uponit7771]

7. Not many people consider the issue of Penn on HRC campaign, the mans been an utter failure. I feel..

...somewhat sorry for her because this guy is such sleaze but wonder why she would have him stick around thinking he's doing good.

She should have had the judgment to tell that anyone connected to Bush or leans towards neo-clown policies is stupid

[1776Forever]

9. Wow I am surprised at that! Begala speaking out !

Did you see Barack said he would have fired Penn? Here is the video - sorry it is from Fox News but that I where the link took me from Huffington Post:

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/11/obama-says-hed-have-fired-mark-penn/

“I think it was surprising to me that a high ranking, if not the highest ranking, member of Senator Clinton’s team would be engaged in business activities and lobbying that was directly contrary to the position Senator Clinton had taken,” he said.

But if one of his advisors had done the same thing?

“Let me put it this way: I’m not surprised that Senator Clinton found herself in an uncomfortable position as a consequence. And I know that if staff of mine were putting me in that kind of position, I would get rid of them.”

[gateley]

11. What I don't get --

Has Penn brought anything TO her campaign? Has he delivered the results she'd hoped for when she hired him? Serious question. Thanks.

[Pirate Smile]

12. I would think her supporters would hate him the most. My Mom keeps saying that Penn

must have something on them. :shrug: That makes as much sense as anything else since his still having a job with her campaign seems insane.

[roguevalley]

21. he was with bill since 1996 and they are loyal to their friends. amazing

that they have so many idiotic or stupid or corrupt friends. this isn't a private business where you keep your stupid nephew on the payroll. this is the country.

[hisownpetard]

15. She must be the only one who thinks so - or she would have fired him altogether

by now.

I don't get it, either.

[TheWraith]

13. Good for you, Paul. She should have hired you!

Then probably this campaign wouldn't have turned into the hatefest that it became.

Paul was always the wiser, more cool-headed half of the Carville/Begala team.

[Pirate Smile]

17. Well, he likes negative campaigning so I'm not sure that it wouldn't have turned into a hatefest but

I certainly respect what he said today. It is obviously true. I'm sure the campaign has been rather shocking/disheartening/puzzling to the Clinton supporters.

[TheWraith]

23. Begala likes playing rough, but he's not a Rove type like Penn.

Swiftboating isn't his style. Begala's also ethically consistent, and a realist, so we wouldn't suffer this Penn fantasy-world where Obama's going to magically implode and the world will come back to Hillary in awe.

[americanstranger]

22. I don't think they even do US campaigns any more.

The last few campaigns that he and Carville (or Carville, at least) have been - Tony Blair, Ehud Barak, and campaigns in Canada and Bolivia.

- as

[TheWraith]

24. I think you're right. nt

[kid a]

14. Begala sees the writing on the wall - this is about post-primary accountabilty and spin

[thevoiceofreason]

18. I'm about to get over the dislike of Paul I developed in law school

[NJSecularist]

19. Why didn't Hillary hire Begala instead?

He was one of the main reasons why Bill won in 92.

[zulchzulu]

20. It looks like Begala is taking the life raft off the sinking SS Clinton

I know he was an advisor at least. Time for Door #1: Reputation or Door #2: Clinton trouble magnet

He's picking Door #1.