The (Innocent) Obama Tapes Mark Penn Wanted Released

On Monday evening, the Atlantic Magazine released its long awaited opus on the downfall of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

The piece, titled "The Front-Runner's Fall" was based off of more than 200 internal emails and memos many of which were posted online. And, sure enough, within a matter of minutes one of those documents was causing quite a buzz.

On December 30, 2007, pollster and chief strategist Mark Penn wrote fellow staffers that if it was a two way race with Obama after Iowa, Clinton would best be suited to launch several hypothetical attacks. "[O]n Friday we do a media interviews (sic) and basically say that he is unvetted, discuss his ever-changing positions. Release the tapes. Create immediate pressure that deprives him of oxygen."

The tapes? Or, as Jake Tapper over at ABC wrote: "Release the tapes???? What tapes?"

Could Penn have been referencing the long-rumored "October surprise" that may still be lurking? Was this an admission that the Clinton campaign had shopped around the footage of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, which nearly derailed Obama's candidacy?

Actually, a one-time staffer says, neither.

Asked about "the tapes" a former aide who had direct knowledge of the footage, deflated all the drama from the room.

"These were various tapes we acquired from previous campaigns that showed Obama had flipped positions. Penn was obsessed with these. This actually pretty much played out. One of the tapes aired on ABC News and others were published in the Washington Times."

Sigh. But, did Penn's obsession make a difference"

"No one cared," said the aide.

Comments

[DeeKre]

Penn reminds me of the guy in the show, The Producers, who wants to swindle the sponsors of the show. He's a blowhard, not as funny or sympathetic as the character, but filled with his own importance. He was a choice of Bill which makes perfect sense, another blowhard who has long since lost relevance for this country. Bad leadership, bad judgment, constant infighting, allegations against each other, blame for everyone but themselves and plain nasty politics a la Bush/Rove.

Time to move on folks. The drama should be in how we solve our problems not in the trash thrown by one incompetent against another. The Clintons are over.

[booker52]

Did Mark Penn study under Karl Rove??? What a jerk wad. Glad Hillary didn't let this stuff come out. How low class.

[Azmom]

She did let them come out. It's right there in the article that two of the tapes came out an no one cared. Mark Penn might be a jerk but the final responsibility comes down to HRC. She hired him, she kept him around until it came out that he was lobbying for something that HRC was against (But Bill was for). She deserves what she got. Guilt by association and this guy is vile.

[CtJean]

It's the George Costanza routine. Didn't have a good come-back in an argument. Went home and made up some retorts. They weren't however very good.

In this case, the retorts were there but not used.

So like "rollover minutes" hc decided it wasn't too late to use them, hoping for a brokered convention. ANYTHING, to keep herself relevant.

Sorry folks, show is over. pffft

[IslandGyal]

Thank you!

[vonny]

BREAKING: If Obama’s name is really Barry Soetoro, his primary results are all disqualified and he is not the nominee

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

This story is as false as the whitey tapes.

[SURRYMARK]

If Vonny's name is really Vomit, then it's postings should receive the same trashing that other posters get. If Vonny is really a comedian, then let me apply for the job of writer.

[YellowDogInRedCounty]

Nothwithstanding the inanity of your logic, then Hillary would have been disqualified, too, since she has changed her name several times. Hillary Clinton, then Hillary Rodham Clinton, then Hillary Clinton again.

I see you've posted the same exact thing on about a dozen different posts regarding Obama. Time to get a life!

[donttasemebro]

The only thing breaking here is the wind coming out of your mouth.

[Gericault]

I don't think that's his mouth.

[terragazelle60]

The only way that Barack's name could be Barry Soetoro is if he changed his name to his childhood nickname and his step father adop[ted him, which he did not.
I understand wanting your candidate to win, but Gods above, stop being so stupid. You do have a brain, think things through.
And unless I am missing something we nominate the person not the name..that was the mistake Hillary made, she depended on the name.

[Meggie]

Poor judgement keeping Penn around. 'Nuf said about judgement and the types of people who would have been back in the white house if she had prevailed.

[mydoglucky]

Hillary is a symbol for all the people out there who feel they have been effed over, just like her.
She is their champion. Personally, I don't think she gives a s*&t.
And, if it's true that Bill was really calling the shots, not too empowering, huh, Hillary?
She got effed over by men again! Howard, Bill, Mark and Harold and Bill for the 100th time.
So. Conclusion: rather than be angry at Hillary, their champion, the PUMAs are mad at everybody else i.e. Barack

[roshni]

But I thought John Edwards was to blame?

[Bozwellian]

Most are loath to acknowledge that only DUE TO HER MARRAIAGE TO BILL was she up for Senator or President nomination/election...Tis a fact/factor glossed over and many who did go along with the song/dances did so cuz they figured that in comparison as times were considered good under Bill presidency, HE would be the one actually doing the same but with her holding the "historical" title even if only for "buildup" of their legacy/etc, etc...Those stating they are so profoundly upset that she did not make the final sale and hold resentment directed to THE LEGIT NOMINEE , it is obvious ISSUES were not the prime criteria for throwing their support to her rather than O or others. RATHER PATHETIC , and even more so now and the C's have NOT done SINCERE EFFORT to stop the bleeding ...SHE COULD FIRMLY ANNOUNCE SHE CONCEDED, RELENQUISH those "delegates and stop the continued bleed, obviously, reasons for NOT doing so , still hoping for something to happen and therewith allowing no admission of defeat to creep in or be seen but is still evident and doubletimes her loserability position for real !!!

[JJeff88]

Mark Penn comes across as the tragic cliche'd character in a number of movies about poltics - the key staff member who is so loyal to his candidate that he'd lie, cheat, steal or worse in order to defend his candidate or win an election.

But my sympathy for him is drowned out by my anger and frustration that some of his slash & burn tactics are creating problems for Sen. Obama in the general election campaign.

[Budokan]

HRC was ill served by Penn.

[tel8034]

How was HRC ill-served by Penn? ................... SHE HIRED HIM, SHE PAID HIM AND SHE APPROVED THE ATTACK BARACK STRATEGY.

Hillary claimed that she would be ready on DAY 1 ................. But she didn't have good judgement when it came to choosing Penn as her principle advisor............ So how would we have been able to trust her judgement at 3am, when she probably would have put the telephone call on hold while she consulted with people like Penn for an answer to the problem?

The "Atlantic story" was an eye opener, and showed how Hillary, Bill and Penn made a conscious effort to systematically discredit Obama................ The blue print was clearly laid out in a series of memos.

What was even more telling was how the people of NY State were duped into believing that Hillary had their back......... But they were just a means to an end for her personal ambition to be POTUS, nothing more and nothing else.

[Bozwellian]

...add in another factoring on their part...to skim the FEMALE VOTE BLOCK and that has worked to some extent even now with those few hard core rappers of hers. Problem is, herding FEMALES is FAR WORSE THAN HERDING CATS FOLKS, take a look around, the truer majority have indeed moved on and support Obama and truly reject McCain and what he stands for. Many have attempted to allow Hillary a chance at grace but many of us are more than a tad annoyed at how incompetent she has been in that dept. as well and her present "campaigning" on behalf of Obama lacks authenticity and sincerity and IT SHOWS. RELEASE THE DELEGATES, FIRMLY STATE NO TO ANY PUTTING HER UP for nomination at the convention and too, tell Bill to shut his mouth as well. IF she was authentically sincere, she would do so, her heartfelt thoughts/ambiton reside with the likes of Penn and other of those diehard surrogates that are YET attempting to keep her in the game when their session is long over and out. They are damaging not only the Dems, they are damaging themselves with their delusionalities !!!

[JennieB]

The Atlantic article shows what an indecisive and poor leader Hillary is. She would vascillate on decisions, then explode when things didn't go well. Bill is the one who made the big decision about the 3am ad, not Hillary. But most of all, it shows that it was in their plans all along to inject sexism into the race, which they are now blaming everyone else for. The media DID made sexist comments but Hillary's campaign PLANNED to use sexism so how can she now criticize anyone else?

What an incompetent and unprofessional bunch.

[Okieborn]

The Clintons just won't give up their Power and go back to Arkansas and give tours of the Saudi Built Clinton Museum .
John Mccain is also having a hard time realizing he is through,he should take his bag of depends and go home to one of his 8 mansions !!!

[lincheryl]

Clinton and McCain seem to have a lot in common. They don't make the decisions. McCain has had his cell phone use limited by his campaign leaders so that he doesn't keep changing views "as to the last person he talks to."

Do we want people like this in charge of the nation? I think a president should listen to all sides of an issue, but then should be able to consolidate the information and make a decision based on his/her judgment. That's what a LEADER does.

McCain and Clinton are followers and haven't even chosen good people to follow.

[Meggie]

Agree. This Penn business is just one example of the type of back-room "leadership" you get when you choose to elect someone who does not run the show, but rather is led around like HRC & McC. O seems to be running his show, and that type of strength seems to be what washington insiders are afraid of. I hope American people are smart, because it's what we need for a change. No more of this back-room shadowy government for a while!

[IGGHY]

In addition, let's not forget that Hillary deferred to Bill to have the final word on the 3 a.m. ad to run or not. Bill had a conference call with aids and said "run". Is that women power? Or were we electing Bill for a third term?

[WFV]

Funny. The pooooomas are out in droves for this article, which is yet another attempt to place the blame for their candidate's failures on someone/anyone but the candidate - - but nary a peep on the thread containing the memos from the campaign, documenting the freefall of her candidacy.

It was her campaign. She was in charge. She lost.

[bluehorizon]

How many cats does the average PUMA member have? Great luck! ~bh

[thinklib]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a PUMA?

[terragazelle60]

Ok, Ok...enough with the cat talk..I happen to be an old lady, a cat owner, and a supporter of Obama. I support Obama with my time and donations...you young whipper snappers better behave, I'll sick my pooties on you!

[alieninvader]

I think the true test of a good President is the ability to find the best and the brightest advisers. Hill obviously failed that test. McSame hires lobbyists.

[bluehorizon]

Shhhh. You wouldn't want to say something that's actually true.... PUMAs aren't logical people.

Best of luck! ~ bh

[Fabienne]

Wouldn't it be interesting if even one PUMA on the blogs expressed why she or he supported Clinton because of the issues and why he or she did not support Obama because of the issues?

[IGGHY]

Hill found and hired the best and brightest to fight against each other with brilliance. Her lack of leadership is not so much in failing to hire best minds as in failing to manage them to do their best. No talent can get far without clear directions from the top.

[mairs]

I had thought that her flipping her campaign back and forth from balls-out attack, to motherly, to respectful, to sneering, was all about her own unstable personality, but now it seems her schizophrenic style was simply a result of the ebb and flow of influence between the warring factions of her campaign.

[foxbat]

I've said it before, I really think Clinton has a malpractice suit against this guy, and others in her campaign, and should be able to write off that part of her debt. Remember that this guy couldn't be bothered the to read the pamphlet ... the one that they give to all candidates when they sign up to run that tells you the dates of the primaries, where the bathrooms and vending machines are, where you can park your car, and that the Democratic contests are NOT winner take all. While I appreciate the confidence that the Clinton camp had in figuring it would be all over by Super Tuesday, that's the same faulty logic that caused the Titanic to no have enough lifeboats. Those extra lifeboats might might have interfered with the asthetic view of the ship, but I'd venture a guess that those folks at the bottom of the Atlantic would have minded much in hindsight.

I know that some are going to say it's Clinton's own fault for hiring him, and in part that's true, but you still get to withhold some of the payment if you hire a contractor to paint your house and they paint it with watercolors.

Penn has forgotten that old adage, "Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Penn's insistence on continuing to speak is HOPEFULLY reducing his future earning potential as a political consultant.

[Triciann]

I think she's an idiot if she pays him his "fee".

[robotfog]

maybe she can have him pay half her campaign debt.

[LiberTLover]

In the business world, you, as a manager, hire advisors and strategists (marketing, IT, etc) to give you their professional advice and opinions, but as the manager of the team, it is up to you to decide how to use that information or even whether to use it. HC was supposed to be the leader, the manager, the one who was ready to command. Clearly she was not. Blindly adhering to others' advice without doing your own analysis and using your own experience and instincts to guide you just make you a follower, not a leader.

[BLUEinReddeststate]

Remember we live in a country that when a CEO runs a company into the ground HE is "let go" with a huge severance pay or a golden parachute.
Check out the salaries and bonus packages of the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

[ntmessage]

Few (if any) on the Clinton side are fans of Mark Penn. At the same time, we know that both the Clinton and Obama campaigns had many internal conversations of different strategies to attack the other side, most I would presume never happened. CNN and others continuing to bring up only the Clinton campaign of subjective hearsay internal conversations as a direct and deceptive attack motivated by Clinton haters alone.

This further keeps the party dis-united when a united Obama – Clinton destroys the McCain side using far less money and helps put together a more substantial coalition.

Do many in the media, including the so-called best politicos in the industry and others like MSNBC, want to continue to pick at the newly healing scab between the two camps for ratings? Perhaps. Do they want to continue to drive disunity to get more money, visibility and become the solution to fix issues they themselves foster with needless spending precious dollars from the campaigns? No Doubt at all. Kind of like a window-replacement, business using a sling shot at a bunch of windows to help perk up business.

[Triciann]

Exactly. Even Huff Post I suppose.

[roshni]

It's the Clintons who want the limelight. They won't go away, either of them.

[bogues]

You are absolutely right. The MSM are responsible for continuing to pit democrats against one another and they do it for monetary reasons. They have not does this to the republican party. It will be up to democrats to be strong enough and smart enough to pull it together and move on. We have to let it go and stop being mad. If we do not show the country once and for all that we are a party worth listening to, then I guess we should just dis-band and let the republicans have it. When we fight amongst ourselve, we are giving it over to them anyway.

[AnitaBreak]

Not that there is anything wrong with a tranny or a hooker, for the record.

[tinarm]

The only thing I know for sure is that after reading the emails Hillary does not have the necessary judgement to run anything, and Mark Penn should be a republican. I'm also extrememly happy that she LOST! Geez, Howard Wolfson needs to take a prozac, Mark Penn should be thrown out of the democratic party, and my contemept for the Clinton's grows stronger on a daily basis. I don't think I can even watch the convention the nights they speak, I'll end up breaking my t.v.

[ThunderclapNewman]

Pe.nn isn't a Democrat.

He's a paid thug, and will take money from anyone.

After this debacle, he will never be hired by another Democrat.

[zendem1]

Oh yea he will, eventually. Democrats love to hire consultants who lose. Bob Shrum got rich off incompetence.

[alphax]

Penn should been paid on a NO WIN .. NO FEE basis