Originally Posted By: whomod


and even more telling:

 Quote:
Last month, after a series of defeats, Hillary Clinton chose a new campaign manager, replacing Patti Solis Doyle. But she left in place many senior people, including Penn and Ickes, who have been involved in incessant turf wars.

As the campaign faces a make-or-break moment, some high-level officials are trying to play down their role in the campaign. Penn said in an e-mail over the weekend that he had "no direct authority in the campaign," describing himself as merely "an outside message advisor with no campaign staff reporting to me."

"I have had no say or involvement in four key areas -- the financial budget and resource allocation, political or organizational sides. Those were the responsibility of Patti Solis Doyle, Harold Ickes and Mike Henry, and they met separately on all matters relating to those areas."

Howard Wolfson, the campaign's communications chief, answered that it was Penn who had top responsibility for both its strategy and message. Another aide said Penn spoke to Clinton routinely about the campaign's message and ran daily meetings on the topic......



Penn countered that the reason for many of her defeats, particularly in smaller states, had been a lack of organization, not the message -- a swipe at Henry and others in field work.

In the end, Clinton backed Penn. Henry left the campaign. And Clinton has been casting herself as someone in the "solutions business" -- a message she repeats as she makes a stand in Ohio and Texas.

The campaign dubbed her final weekend appearances in Texas and Ohio "Solutions for America" rallies.

" 'Solutions for America,' " one campaign aide said. "It sounds like something you'd buy at the pharmacy."





Mark Penn just sounds like a fucking asshole with a losing strategy and a vicious streak of self-preservation and finger pointing for his crap strategy. And this again speaks volumes about Hillary Clinton's judgement and character.

Again, MEM, how in the hell do you condone her? In good conscience?



I was wondering if that skunk Mark Penn, who if you recall the article I quoted from, was trying to distance himself away from Hillary before her wins Tuesday and saying he was just an outside advisor, even though before that he would insist on being acknowledged as the head of her campaign. So after her wins, I just assumed he'd try to go for the glory, sho'nuff.

This will likely be all the news on Thursday. It's not the kind of thing she'll want to be talking about, how all her top staffers hate each other.

 Quote:
For the bruised and bitter staff around Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tuesday's death-defying victories in the Democratic presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas proved sweet indeed. They savored their wins yesterday, plotted their next steps and indulged in a moment of optimism. "She won't be stopped," one aide crowed.


And then Clinton's advisers turned to their other goal: denying Mark Penn credit.

 Quote:
With a flurry of phone calls and e-mail messages that began before polls closed, campaign officials made clear to friends, colleagues and reporters that they did not view the wins as validation for the candidate's chief strategist. "A lot of people would still like to see him go," a senior adviser said.


An interesting find buried in the article: It was Penn who gave Bill Clinton the "Jesse Jackson" line that started the never-ending string of racially-tinged bimbo eruptions from the campaign:

 Quote:
At 8:53 p.m. on Jan. 26, the day of the election, Penn sent an e-mail to the senior campaign staff comparing Obama's victory there to Jesse L. Jackson's two wins in the 1980s. Bill Clinton repeated that comparison to reporters shortly afterward, generating even more anger among African Americans who perceived it as a way of marginalizing Obama by portraying him as a black candidate who appeals only to black voters.


Another fascinating tidbit: DLC head Bruce Reed gave Hillary her "change your can Xerox" line.

 Quote:
In Austin on Feb. 21, Clinton had a solid debate performance, although her aides groaned as she accused Obama of offering "change you can Xerox." The line, advisers said, was offered during debate preparation by Bruce Reed, a Clinton White House official, but onstage it came across as forced and drew boos.


Nice to know that the right tilting DLC wing of the Democratic party has the inside track on Hillary's talking points. No wonder it's sounding increasingly like Karl Rove is writing her anti-Obama talking points.