David Axelrod Responds To Mark Penn's Departure

Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod called Mark Penn's departure from the Clinton campaign "stunning," and coined the iconic quip for this morning's news on MSNBC's Morning Joe: "The sword is mightier than the Penn."

Penn Out As Clinton Senior Strategist

Beth Fouhy,

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Mark Penn, the pollster and senior strategist for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid, left the campaign Sunday after it was disclosed he met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote a free trade agreement Clinton opposes.

"After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the Clinton Campaign," campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement released Sunday. "Mark, and Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign."

Communications director Howard Wolfson and pollster Geoff Garin will direct the campaign's message and strategic efforts for the campaign going forward, Williams said.

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Update: Hillary Hospital Tale

In a earlier post I have Hillary's stump speech sharing the story of the young mother who did not have health care.

Just Speaking Engament Engagement

Billary's Tax Returns....Not......2007

This is what we know so far:

2000-2007 Returns

Feds Taxes Paid: $33.7 million
Charity: $10.2 million
Her Senate Salary: $1,051,606
His Presidential Pension: $1,217,250
Her Book Income: $10,457,083
His Book Income: $29,580,525
His Speech Income: $51,855,599

Update: Conflicting stories about 2007 tax returns. Did the late Friday dump include 2007? Drudge says it includes 2007...
Chris Mathews said the Friday's dump did not....
Dan Abrams Tag Breaking Tonight: seek extension on 2007 Tax return, Estimate $20 Million in income. Developing Story........

Update 2: Ben Smith reports that the dump include detailed returns for 2000 through 2006, and the request for an extension for last year.

So they did not release 2007, Drudge managed to do Hillary bidding by not specifying the 2007 omissions, Thanks Ben I can away count on you. You can download them, and see a summary, here.

Update 3:






Update 4: Senator Hillary Clinton and President Clinton
2007 Tax Information

• The Clintons will seek an extension of time to file their 2007 tax return, as they have for
  the past 3 years, because they are waiting to receive information related to partnership
  income, including investments made by the Trustees of their Blind Trust. The Blind
  Trust was unblinded on April 27, 2007 and the assets, with the exception of U.S. treasury
  notes and federal bonds, were sold on May 11, 2007. The tax information in this release
  is based upon the best estimates of the Clintons' tax attorney.
  

• Senator Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton have paid $5,100,000 in federal
  income taxes on an estimated total income of $20,400,000 for 2007. They will not pay
  additional taxes when they file their extension. Senator Clinton and President Clinton made more than $3,000,000 in charitable contributions in 2007, including $1,000,000 from the proceeds of President Clinton's book, Giving.

The Clintons' estimated 2007 total income includes, among other items:
Senator Clinton's salary $150,200
Senator Clinton's book royalties $152,864
President's Clinton's pension $186,600
President Clinton's book income $4,434,446
President Clinton's speeches $10,145,000
Partnership income $2,750,000
Advisor income from InfoUSA $400,000
Income from savings accounts $485,000
Investment income from Blind Trust $3,515,000

• (The partnership, speeches and investment income above are estimated figures)
  Information on the Clintons' 2007 estimated total income and federal tax
  payments is provided by their tax attorney, Howard M. Topaz of Hogan & Hartson.

Heads-up: Weekend Reading NAFTA/CAFTA and the 08 Campaign

While we wait for this story to break, we are on the brink of getting to the bottom of the question: Does Hillary support NAFTA and CAFTA? She continues to say that she was opposed to the NAFTA agreement? We now have a story developing on three fronts take a look at the background information I provided below to get ready or next week.

1. Does Hillary opposed NAFTA and against CAFTA the proposed bilateral trade deal with Colombia?

• Rep Miller an Obama supporter was part the campaign conference call expressing his concerns with NAFTA. He stated that he was not aware of Hillary's objections to NAFTA when the congress was debating the effects of the proposed agreement.

2. Obama says that he opposes NAFTA and CAFTA but reports say his campaign had reassured Canadian diplomats through back-channels that the candidate's calls for renegotiating the North American free-trade agreement were political rhetoric, not serious plans or was it Clinton who reached out to Canada?

• Substitute her name ...

  Hillary last month:

  “If you come to Ohio and you go give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA… and then we find out that your chief economic adviser has gone to a foreign government and basically done the old wink-wink – ‘Don’t pay any attention, this is just political rhetoric’ — I think that raises serious questions… "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."
  
  Last Friday Canada pledged to make public the results of an investigation into Canadian leaks that damaged the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Barack Obama.

3. “If you come to Ohio and you go give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA… and then we find out that your chief economic adviser has gone to a foreign government and basically done the old wink-wink – ‘Don’t pay any attention, this is just political rhetoric’ — I think that raises serious questions…

• Not quitting the day job

  This, in the wake of how hard Clinton's aides pressed on Austan Goolsbee's meeting (in, he said, his professorial capacity) with the Canadians, is a bit tough to explain:

  Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist met with Colombia's ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.
  
  Attendance by the adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Colombian officials. He wasn't there in his campaign role but in his separate job as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, an international communications and lobbying firm

"An Error in Judgement"

• From NBC's John Boxley
  As mentioned earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn -- in his role as chief executive of Buston-Marsteller -- met with Colombia's ambassador to discuss a free trade deal, which Clinton actually opposes.

  Penn just released this statement: "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."

• Ben Smith reports: Change to Win, the labor federation that includes SEIU, just sent out a statement demanding Penn's head:
  
  The statement, from executive director Greg Tarpinian:
  
  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: Why is Latian American Far Right's Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is worried?

Uribe's Attack On Obama

• That Uribe singled-out Obama is revealing: the Illinois senator’s rival for the Democratic nomination for president in the United States, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, also says Associated Press she opposes the US-Colombia “free trade” pact. That clearly doesn’t worry Uribe: the Clinton organization has a long history of backing – politically and economically – the Colombian far right, its narco-politicians and paramilitary death squads, of whom Uribe is supreme leader. In 2000, then-US president Bill Clinton went on Colombian national TV to announce “Plan Colombia,” the multi-billion dollar US military intervention that keeps Uribe and his repressive regime in power to this day.
  

• The Associated Press has now run with the story in English, a reaction to Obama’s statement yesterday before the AFL-CIO of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia

”I will oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement if President Bush insists on sending it to Congress because the violence against unions in Colombia would make a mockery of the very labor protections that we have insisted be included in these kinds of agreements.”

• More extensively quoted in The Philadephia Bulletin, Obama added:

  ”So you can trust me when I say that whatever trade deals we negotiate when I’m president will be good for American workers, and that they’ll have strong labor and environmental protections that we’ll enforce.”

Hillary you need to stop talking

Hillary, your campaign raised 20 million just in time. Do campaign a favor and hire a " Phony Image" consultant to get your poll numbers up. After today's press conference your campaign staff tried to do a little damage control but I don't think it passed kohones test.


Fernando Suarez CBS Reports:

• BURBANK, CALIF. - In an exchange with reporters at a press conference earlier today, Hillary Clinton was asked about reports that while, she was seeking his endorsement, she told Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., that Barack Obama could not win the general election if he were the nominee. Clinton responded, “You know we have been going back and forth in this campaign about who said what to whom and let me say this about that. I don’t talk about private conversations. But I have consistently made the case that I can win because I believe I can win. You know, sometimes people draw the conclusions that I’m saying somebody else can’t win. I can win, I know I can win. That’s why I do this everyday. I’m in it to win it.”
  
  The reporter pressed Clinton saying, “Is that a no?” To which Clinton responded, “That’s a no.”
  

**O-No phony alert** HRC staff tries to clean up Hillary's "THAT'S NO"

• A senior Clinton spokesman told reporters that Clinton did not mean to imply that she was not referring to what she allegedly said to Richardson about Obama. Instead, the campaign explains that Clinton took the follow up question to mean that she “does not talk about private conversations."
  
  Reporters pressed the aide about Clinton’s answer to which the aide maintained that Clinton’s “that’s a no” answer was aimed at the fact that Clinton does not discuss private conversations.

After paying Mark Pen his usual $10 million and the health insurance for the staff this month, I think it would be a wise investment to hire a "phony image" consultant. Know anyone who is available? Bill is a little busy working with his "anger management" consultant.

Why the Democratic race could end in North Carolina

By Susan Page, USA TODAY

RALEIGH, N.C. — The end could be near.

Or the endgame, at least, of a surprisingly drawn-out Democratic presidential contest. Four months and 42 states after the opening Iowa caucuses, the primary in North Carolina on May 6 now looms as a pivotal final showdown between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama starts with a double-digit lead in polls here, a state where 2,400 free tickets to his rally at the War Memorial Auditorium in Greensboro last week were gone within three hours of the announcement he would appear. But Clinton has appeal in the Tar Heel State, too, and is competing hard. The day after Obama's rally, she drew 1,000 supporters to the gym at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville for a town hall meeting.

"I really believe May 6 has the potential to be everything," says Joe Trippi, a strategist for the presidential bids of former North Carolina senator John Edwards this year and Howard Dean in 2004. "Every day you see increased pressure on Hillary Clinton about why she's staying in, and if she could win in North Carolina it would shut down that kind of talk and open up the possibility she could get there" to the nomination.

"But if he wins in North Carolina," Trippi says of Obama, "I think you're going to see things close up very quickly. You'll see a lot of superdelegates line up behind him."

Obama Raised $40 Million in March..... Clinton not sharing

One could assume that Obama's fundraising would have taken a hit this month unarguable his worst campaign month, with losing the Texas and Ohio primaries (he won the Texas delegates race), the Pastor Wright dust up, and the downward poll numbers. But, there is no denying that the electorate wants change and willing to invest $40 Million in Obama.


Well, McSame raised 13 million, the Clinton campaign told Time that they did not hit $20 million.

April 22, is the next primary contest in Pennsylvania, Ben Smith is reporting that Clinton's aide Howard Wolfson said their fundraising totals will be out when the fillings are due, around April 20. Wolfson went on to say that Mrs. Clinton will be releasing her tax returns today or tomorrow.

Methinks the campaign broke, my only questions is how long can she keep running on empty.

Update:

• Total Raised in March: More than $40 million
  
  Contributors in March: More than 442,000
  
  First-Time Contributors in March: More than 218,000
  
  Average Contribution: $96
  
  Total Contributors to Date: More than 1,276,000

Delegates breaking their silence and possible alliance with HRC

Since Gov. Bill Richardson endorsement there has been a stream of support towards Sen. Obama: Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and this week, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

Now committed and uncommitted superdelegates are braking their silence:

• Former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter has hinted that he might cast his vote for Senator Barack Obama. “We are very interested in the primaries. Don’t forget that Obama won in my state of Georgia. My town which is home to 625 people is for Obama, my children and their spouses are pro- Obama. My grandchildren are also pro- Obama. As a Super Delegate, I would not disclose who I am rooting for but I leave you to make that guess,"

• New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Clinton superdelegate, just said on CNBC's Squawk Box that he reserves the right to change his vote from Hillary Clinton if she doesn't have the popular vote. He stopped short of saying that he definitely would change his vote if she lost the popular vote and he did strongly emphasize that Sen. Clinton would win the popular vote in the end.

• Washington State Sen. Maria Cantwell, another Clinton super, has said similar things regarding the popular vote.

Update:

• Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha said today if Hillary in trailing Obama in total caucus and primary votes she can't be the nominee.
  

According to Bloomberg News which has a great breakdown on Superdelegate and who they are supporting, Obama leading in U.S. House freshmen 16 to 6 and 40% are from "red states", he also has support of 99 lawmakers and governors, compared to Clinton's 96. In January Clinton enjoyed more then double the support within the same group, 91 to 43.

Watergate-Era Judiciary Chief of Staff: Hillary Clinton Fired For Lies, Unethical Behavior

by Dan Calabrese, North Star Writer Group

.....Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”..

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(h/t Ms. Smith)

The Truth About NAFTA and Obama

CBS News: Campaign Interference




UPDATE: Looks like Hillary has some explaining to do.

NAFTA-Gate Leaker Said Hillary's People Were Reassuring Canada

Since 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S., Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton's musings about reopening the North American free-trade pact had caused some concern.

Mr. Brodie downplayed those concerns.

"Quite a few people heard it," said one source in the room.

"He said someone from (Hillary) Clinton's campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry."

Government officials did not deny the conversation took place.

They said that Mr. Brodie sought to allay concerns about the impact of Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton's assertion that they would re-negotiate NAFTA if elected. But they did say that Mr. Brodie had no recollection of discussing any specific candidate — either Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama.

CTV News President Robert Hurst said he would not discuss his journalists' sources.

But others said the content of Mr. Brodie's remarks was passed on to CTV's Washington bureau and their White House correspondent set out the next day to pursue the story on Ms. Clinton's apparent hypocrisy on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Although CTV correspondent Tom Clark mentioned Ms. Clinton in passing, the focus of his story was on assurances from the Obama camp.

Must Read: Stumping for Clinton, Steinem Says McCain's P.O.W. Cred Is Overrated

by Niall Stanage, The New York Observer

.....McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”

Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.

“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”

To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”........

.......But she also opined that “a majority of Americans want redemption for racism, for our terrible destructive racist past and so see a vote for Obama as redemptive.” Then, using a term for the mass killing of women, she added, “I don’t think as many want redemption for the gynocide.”.....

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Good Morning

Barack Obama Responds to Hillary Clinton's Attack On Oratory and Hope— (9 min.)

Imus Interviews Tom Oliphant

Obama & Clinton Speeches At The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

read:"Obama bring ot back to earth in Virginia"

Obama & Clinton Speeches At The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

Nebraska Preliminary caucus results favor Obama

Barack Obama won 76 percent support today from caucusgoers in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District.

The Omaha-based district includes Douglas County and almost all of Sarpy County.

In unofficial results announced by the Douglas County Democratic Party, Obama won 12,252 votes in the 2nd District to 3,709 for Hillary Clinton.

Statewide results will be announced later tonight by the Nebraska Democratic Party.



Nebraska Democrats overflow caucus sites
by Anna Jo Bratton/Associated Press

OMAHA — Thousands of people statewide overflowed school gyms, sat in traffic and stood in groups on Saturday to be counted as part of Nebraska’s first Democratic presidential caucus.....

.....Law enforcement shut down Highway 370 and the intersection leading into the site — a school
cafeteria — because the area was packed with cars.....

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Who Will Gen. Colin Powell Vote For?

The Match-Up: McCain vs Obama/Clinton

MSNBC Interview with Mark Blumenthal, Pollster.Com

Time Poll Here

Update: MSNBC anchor quoted Peggy Noonan's editorial today “Mrs. Clinton is losing this thing. It's not one big primary, it's a rolling loss, a daily one, an inch-by-inch deflation” as a question when introducing a segment on the new Time poll.

Take the time to read Peggy's editorial "Can Mrs. Clinton Lose?" Here