Mark Penn

Mark J. Penn (born September 10 1954), is the worldwide CEO of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping the world. He was Hillary Clinton's chief strategist for most of her 2008 presidential campaign, for which his firm received $13 million, until he resigned on April 6, 2008. He remains a key pollster and adviser to the campaign which still owes him a ton of money.

Career

Penn is a graduate of the Horace Mann School in New York City (1972) and of Harvard University (1976).

Penn has served as a fellow at the New Politics Institute. He advised British Prime Minister Tony Blair "for his successful run for a third term." Penn is best known for serving as President Bill Clinton's pollster and political adviser for the 1996 re-election campaign and throughout the second term of the administration. He was initially on Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, but was fired after being described as arrogant and controlling, Penn was said to be "someone who pushed the boundaries of his job by dispensing strategic advice rather than simply interpreting data"[1]. He then ran the polling and messaging and was part of the media team for the successful Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton, serving as her chief campaign adviser. He advises organizations and companies on a wide range of image, branding and competitive marketing assignments. He has been a key adviser to Bill Gates and Microsoft since the late 1990s, and continued to represent Microsoft while working on the Hillary Clinton campaign.

His book, Microtrends, published by Hachette Book Group USA, examines how small ideas can catch fire and lead to big changes. For example, Penn shows how a mere one percent of the American public, or 3 million people, can create a “microtrend” capable of launching a major business or even a new cultural movement, changing commercial, political and social landscapes.

Other firms besides Microsoft which have retained Penn's firm include security firm Blackwater and troubled mortgage lender Countrywide.

2008 Hillary Clinton campaign

In his role as Clinton's chief strategist, Penn gained minor attention nationally during a controversy about Barack Obama's admission of drug use during Obama's adolescence and questions about whether the Clinton campaign was trying to exploit the issue. Appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews with the head of the John Edwards and Obama campaigns, Penn stated that the campaign was not making an issue of the drug use, but used the word cocaine (which Obama admitted taking in his memoir "Dreams from My Father"), causing Edwards spokesman Joe Trippi to jump on him and accuse him and the rest of the Clinton campaign of trying to distort the picture. Edwards had formerly compared Penn to Karl Rove, and the day after Penn's comments, Jennifer Donahue of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics appeared on Hardball where she too drew the parallel in reference to voter perception of the general tone of the campaign. After Obama's victory in Iowa and Clinton's subsequent fall in national polls, it was reported on msnbc.com that Clinton was considering firing Penn. However, Penn continued to play an important role in Senator Clinton's campaign.

Penn's strategy in the primary elections was to concentrate on winning the largest states. He predicted that victories in large states like California and New York would give Clinton a decisive victory on Super Tuesday.

As Obama accumulated wins in smaller states throughout February, Penn famously asked, "Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn't won any of the significant states -- outside of Illinois? That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama.” The statement was a lightning rod for criticism and parody of the Clinton campaign's strategy, particularly on "Netroot" blogs like Daily Kos.

Penn also drew ridicule for his alleged ignorance of the rules after Time's Karen Tumulty retold a story of an early Clinton strategy session. In that meeting, Penn allegedly said that a win for Clinton in California would be decisive, since it would award her all 370 of the state's delegates. This suggests Penn thought the Democratic primaries awarded delegates in a "winner-take-all" fashion, rather than proportional allocation. Penn denies the story.

Colombia lobbying controversy

In mid-2007, the dual role of Mark Penn as the CEO of Burson-Marsteller and chief strategist for Hillary Clinton irked some labor leaders. Labor leaders wrote to Clinton expressing their concern about Burson-Marsteller's anti-labor work.

On April 4, 2008, Penn apologized for working for officials of President Álvaro Uribe (Colombia) for the purposes of lobbying for a free trade agreement that Clinton opposed. Penn admitted to "an error in judgment" after being criticized for meeting with Colombia's ambassador to the United States on the subject of advancing a potential bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. Penn suggested that he had conducted the meeting as part of his role as CEO of Burson-Marsteller. However, the ambassador was unclear in what capacity Penn was conducting the meeting and Penn's advocacy for the trade agreement seemed to undercut his client Hillary Clinton's "well known" opposition to the deal.

On April 5, 2008 the Colombian government terminated its business with Penn and his Burson-Marstellar firm.

Two large U.S. labor organizations have criticized Penn's support for free trade agreements. Service Employees International Union and UNITE HERE have both called for his resignation from the Clinton campaign.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Clinton supported, on April 6, 2008, hinted that Penn should be fired from the Clinton campaign.

Later that day, campaign manager Maggie Williams announced that Penn had "asked to give up his role as Chief Strategist." Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson will be in charge of the campaign's strategy. Williams further said, "Mark, and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign."

On April 6, 2008 Mark Penn resigned from his role strategic advisor to the Clinton campaign, although he will continue to provide some polling and research services.

He also owns 2 businesses.

See also

• Triangulation (politics)

References

• James Carville and Mark J. Penn, "The Power of Hillary," Washington Post, July 2, 2006.
• Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, "A Few Degrees of Separation From Hillary Clinton's Top Adviser", Washington Post, February 20, 2007; Page A11.
• Anne E. Kornblut, "Clinton's PowerPointer. With Data and Slides, a Pollster Guides Campaign Strategy," Washington Post, April 30, 2007.
• Ari Berman "Hillary, Inc." The Nation, May 16, 2007.
• Mark Schmitt, "Penn, Inc.," The American Prospect (web only), March 22, 2007.

External links

• Microtrending.com
• Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates
• Burson Marsteller