by Jim Tankersley
Mark Penn is out as Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist.
Penn is a pollster who has guided the campaign’s message – and clashed over it with other top campaign officials – since Clinton announced her candidacy more than a year ago. He asked to step down today, according to a press release from campaign manager Maggie Williams.
His exit stems from his decision to meet with leaders of Colombia last week to discuss promoting a free trade agreement between their nation and the United States. Penn took the meeting in his capacity as head of one of Washington’s most powerful public relations firms, which the Colombian government hired to push the trade deal in Congress.
Clinton opposes the Colombia pact. Penn apologized on Friday for what he called an “error in judgment” in taking the meeting. That upset Colombian officials, who fired his firm. On Saturday, the campaign promised to provide Penn to the Tribune for an interview, but he never called.
The dust-up appears to have finally knocked Penn from his strategic perch – a move that was rumored as early as January, in the days before the New Hampshire primary; press accounts suggested Clinton’s upset victory there helped him hang on. Last month, the Clinton campaign hired Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates. And Penn and Clinton’s communications director, Howard Wolfson, have had a rocky relationship.
Here’s the release from the Clinton campaign:
“After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as Chief Strategist of the Clinton Campaign; Mark, and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign.
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“Geoff Garin and Howard Wolfson will coordinate the campaign’s strategic message team going forward.”