General

No Penn in Penn

The departure of Mark Penn, the top strategist for the Hillary Clinton campaign, is a clear blow to Clinton’s hopes in Pennsylvania. It is clear that Penn was becoming an embarrassment. Clinton decided to act accordingly.

With questions being raised about the Clintons’ income situation ($109 million in income since leaving the White House), one wonders how Hillary will handle embarrassing revelations affecting Bill’s numerous business ventures. Obama had his embarrassing moment with Pastor Wright and these sideshows have a way to impact on momentum. With Obama narrowing Clinton’s lead in Pennsylvania, any loss of momentum is a serious concern.

Penn’s departure should have come earlier. As the top strategist, he was the architect of the big state strategy, the ‘experience’ positioning, and the ‘solutions’ response to Obama’s change agenda. In recent weeks, he has been fingered anonymously as having created a campaign that lacked focus and one having to initiate negative campaigning to catch up. Clinton must win decisively in Pennsylvania to have a hope to win. We shall know in two weeks if no (Mark) Penn in Penn (Pennsylvania) occurred in time for Clinton or if it is too late.

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