Now, I'm Wondering. Was Mark Penn Off His Meds?

The tale of the ill-fated Hillary Clinton campaign continues to unfold and I have to keep asking myself, "How could this have happened?"

The latest?  Apparently, former strategist Mark Penn advised Clinton that she should "portray ... Obama as having a 'limited' connection to basic American values and culture ...."  Atlantic magazine is about to come out with a big article on this, which ought to be an interesting piece to read, not just for us wonky types, but also in looking at Hillary Clinton going forward.

With each new story about Penn, it becomes clearer to me that he is more than just slightly out of touch with: (1) what voters really want to hear from candidates, (2) our intelligence, and (3) reality. 

Whatever country he thinks would respond to his way of operating isn't the one I know.

I was pondering this week what Hillary's future role could or should be, not only for the Democratic party, but for all women regardless of party affiliation.  I imagined she could be a crusader against policies that try to steal constitutionally protected rights from women or she could use her voice to take a stronger stand against sexism in the media.

While the point of the Atlantic article is apparently to be critical, probably rightly, of Clinton's inability to put together a cohesive campaign, I find the Mark Penn comments more alarming.  Granted, I'm already a little bit steamed about his "grannies" comment, but isn't it time to be done with the political schoolyard tactics?

Bullies pull this sort of thing all the time.  Make everyone suspicious of the one who looks, sounds or dresses different than all the other kids, circle the wagons and then attack.  Now, I'm not letting Barack Obama or any other politician off the hook for sometimes doing the same thing.  I still don't buy Barack's explanation that his comment about Hillary being "likeable enough" wasn't meant to cut through her image like a hot knife through butter.

But the more I learn, the more it appears that Penn was a master at that tactic.  I'm sure he would have done really well in the Nixon administration.  Assuming that keeping Penn on board for so long wasn't entirely her idea, I hope she's taken the lesson of this bitter pill to heart.

Hillary, you did a lot of things wrong all on your lonesome, but I bet if you had kept your own counsel a little more, and had gently steered clear of Bill's old crew, the ultimate outcome of this presidential race might have been different.

As for Penn,  it's time for him and Bob Shrum to keep their paws off any Democrats from this moment going forward.  The two of you have done enough damage to Democratic politics for several generations.

After Joanne is done mulling over how Hillary could have tied her star to Mark Penn for so long, she'll be at her place, PunditMom, as well as The Huffington Post and BlogHer, where she is a Contributing Editor for Politics & News.

Also, check out PunditMom's pre-convention DNC coverage starting this week.  You can bet it will be "unconventional!"

Comments

[Kristin]

I totally agree with your assessment. We don't need our own Karl Rove. The point of being a Democrat is to be above all of that crap.

[Marissa]

I have thought Penn was a bonafide wacko and unrepentent egomaniac since reading Shrum's book where he lets loose on the guy. Not that Shrum is necessarily the most accurate historian, but from the objective things he said, Penn never should have been trusted. Frankly, that he was so high in her campaign to begin with gave me qualms (and that was WAY before the whole Bosnia episode), and told me that she was relying upon bad avice. Hopefully, his days as a politcal operative are over (although i highly doubt it).

[Lawyer Mama]

Wowser. He's futher over the bend than I thought!