Change to Win Demands Sen. Clinton Fire Chief Campaign Strategist Mark Penn

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Following Change to Win's call yesterday for Sen. Hillary Clinton to fire her chief campaign strategist Mark Penn for advising the Colombian government on promoting congressional approval for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the Colombian government announced today it will terminate its contract with Penn's firm, while Sen. Clinton has yet to respond to the demand for him to be removed from her campaign. In response to today's news, Change to Win executive director Greg Tarpinian sent the following letter on behalf of the Change to Win Leadership Council to Sen. Hillary Clinton to express concern with her lack of action and reiterate the demand that she remove Mark Penn from his role as chief campaign strategist for her presidential campaign.

The text of the letter follows:

April 5, 2008

Senator Clinton:

As you know, we asked that you fire your chief strategist Mark Penn as a sign of your commitment to opposing job killing trade agreements with Colombia and other nations following the revelation that he was meeting with the Colombian government to help them pass the agreement in the U.S. Congress. At this writing you have not taken any action, but in a bizarre twist, the Colombian government has. This afternoon, we learned that Colombia fired Mark Penn.

Penn and your other campaign strategists may think this puts this issue to rest, but far from it.

The Penn situation -- and the lack of action by you -- raises serious questions about the veracity of your claims of what you would do should you become President. We assume that if Mark Penn remains as your "chief strategist," he will play a role in your administration, just as he did in your husband's.

It also raises questions about what you are prepared to do in the coming weeks to defeat Senator Obama in light of your negative attacks on him for a meeting that one of his advisors attended with Canadian officials. We recall that, particularly in the days leading up to the Ohio primary, you attempted to score political points by using that incident to question Senator Obama's long-standing and consistent opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

On March 3 you challenged reporters in Ohio to imagine it was you, and not Senator Obama, whose advisor had met with a foreign government about free trade:

"I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen.
Obama's name and see what you would do with this story ... Just ask
yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having
private meetings with foreign governments." [The Swamp, 3/3/08]

Senator, it is no long necessary to imagine. Mr. Penn was not simply meeting with the government of Colombia, he was advising them on how to pass an anti-worker trade agreement. Moreover, this has come to light when your spokesperson Howard Wolfson -- whose firm also is advising the Colombian government on the passage of the trade agreement -- said that Penn had only two clients, your campaign and Microsoft. This was clearly not true.

For those of us who have dedicated our career to standing up for working Americans, Mr. Penn's contract with Colombia -- apparently terminated today -- raises a number of pressing questions.

What other foreign countries has Mr. Penn represented or lobbied for?

Besides Cintas, Blackwater, and Countrywide Financial, what other clients that most Democrats would consider beyond the pale, do the firm and Mr. Penn represent?

Your campaign says that Mr. Penn does not represent it in the meetings he has with his firm's clients. But doesn't his attendance signal at least a tacit backing on your part? There was, for example, more than an appearance of impropriety in Penn's meeting with the Colombians. On Monday, he met with the Ambassador. On Wednesday, President Uribe attacked Senator Obama for his opposition to the Colombian trade agreement, but did not attack you for your opposition.

The working people of this country are looking for a leader they can trust. They're weary of the doubletalk and the lack of accountability that have come to characterize Washington. They do not want to be told one thing during a campaign only to find out that once someone is elected it was all talk.

It is time for you to fire Mr. Penn as a sign that you mean what you say.

Sincerely,

Greg Tarpinian
Executive Director
Change to Win

About Change to Win

Seven unions and six million workers united in Change to Win to build a new movement of working people equipped to meet the challenges of the global economy and restore the American Dream in the 21st century: a paycheck that can support a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement and dignity on the job. The seven partner unions are: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers' International Union of North America, Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, United Farm Workers of America, and United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Change to Win

CONTACT: Greg Denier, or Noreen Nielsen, +1-202-721-0660, both of Change
to Win

NOTE TO EDITORS: Media representatives interested in scheduling an interview to discuss Change to Win's position on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and Mark Penn's role as chief campaign strategist to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign should contact Noreen Nielsen at Noreen.nielsen@changetowin.org.

2008-04-05 20:43:13 0328743 PRNEWSWIRE