April 04, 2008
Change To Win: Change Penn
Change To Win, a coalition of seven unions and six million workers, is calling for Hillary Clinton to toss her chief strategist, the embattled Mark Penn. The Wall Street Journal broke the story this a.m. that Penn, in his role as Burson-Marsteller Worldwide PR chief, met recently with Colombia's ambassador to the United States to talk about a bilateral trade pact Clinton opposes.
Change To Win's executive director, Greg Tarpinian, issued this statement this afternoon:
"It's time for Senator Hillary Clinton to send her vaunted 'chief strategist' Mark Penn packing -- back to his job consulting for union busting corporations and anti-labor governments for good. We have questioned Penn's role in the Clinton campaign in the past for his representation of union busting employers like Cintas. At that time, Penn said there was a wall between him and his firm's representation of union busters. The latest revelation that Penn -- whose firm represents the Colombian government in its effort to secure passage of a so-called free trade agreement -- is actively involved in securing its passage in the middle of Senator Clinton's presidential campaign is outrageous. It also suggests that he has been playing a double role - advising the Senator on what to say to curry Democratic voters and advising the Colombian government on what to say to curry a majority of votes in Congress.
"The vast majority of Americans do not believe that we should be granting preferential trade status to a government that coddles death squads that target union organizers. Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world for union members, where more than 2,200 workers have been murdered since the 1980s by Colombian death squads for trying to form unions while the government has done nothing to effectively stop the murders. It is time for Penn to go."
UPDATE: Penn released this apology today, "The meeting was an error in judgment that will not be repeated, and I am sorry for it. The senator's well-known opposition to this trade deal is clear and was not discussed."
Posted at 02:26 PM
Comments
Penn.....Wolfsen...Carville....Billy Jeff...
all having a tough time dragging your ass
across the finish line. The media that
fawned over your husband has deserted you....
ain't that a bitch.
hombre | 04.07.08 12:04 AM
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