Clinton hits China again on toy safety

The Aqua Dots recall is one of the most serious announced by CPSC in recent years. When we first announced the recall on Wednesday,
we knew of two children who had fallen into non-responsive comas after ingesting the beads used with this arts and crafts toy. Since
the recall was announced, we have learned of seven additional incidents, some involving children who had to be hospitalized. —Scott
Wolfson, Deputy Director, Consumer Product Safety Commission, November 9, 2007.

"Lobbyists are people, too." ~ Hillary Clinton at Yearly Kos 2007

Illuminations From Todays Washington Post profile of Clinton’s Campaign Manager and top confidant, Mark Penn:

In their $5 million Georgetown mansion, Penn and his wife, Nancy Jacobson, a former staff member for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) who is now a fundraiser with the Clinton campaign, run something of a salon for like-minded friends. They recently threw a book party for Jeffrey Goldberg, the New Yorker writer, to celebrate the release of his memoir on Israel. On another occasion, they hosted David Brooks, the conservative New York Times columnist, for a dinner party and political discussion.

Penn has deep roots in the national security wing of the Democratic Party, along with other centrist Democrats — some of them Jewish and pro-Israel, like Penn — who saw the merits of invading Iraq before the war began.

Penn gained his foreign policy expertise working on numerous campaigns overseas, especially in Israel. In 1981, he and business partner Doug Schoen helped reelect Menachem Begin, one of the most right-wing prime ministers in the country’s history, and emerged with a new outlook on the Middle East. “We got a chance to experience firsthand the perils and possibilities that the state of Israel presents,” Schoen said in an interview.

Ever since, Penn has been a prominent advocate of conveying strength in foreign policy. As recently as the 2004 presidential contest, Penn argued that Democrats would lose if they failed to close the “security gap.” His client list includes prominent backers of the Iraq war, particularly Lieberman, whose presidential campaign Penn helped run in 2004, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose campaign he advised when Blair won a historic third term in 2005.

On no stormy sea has Penn been more of an anchor for Clinton than on Iraq, so far the defining issue of the 2008 election. “I don’t think there’s any gap in their thinking,” said Douglas Schoen, Penn’s former business partner.

Basically, this guy is Clinton’s Karl Rove in terms of how large of a factor he is in her decision making.

Clinton's PowerPointer
With Data and Slides, a Pollster Guides Campaign Strategy

It was fairly simple, Mark J. Penn said calmly to Vice President Al Gore, reporting the findings of an exhaustive survey he had conducted in the early stages of the 2000 presidential campaign. Voters liked Gore's policies. They just didn't like Gore.

Gore laughed, according to people who attended the meeting. He had heard that before. But the vice president, worried about the effect President Bill Clinton's scandals might have on his campaign, had another question for his pollster: Was there any evidence of this "Clinton fatigue" that people kept talking about?

"I'm not tired of him," Penn replied. "Are you?"

It was a flippant response -- and the final straw for Gore, who had long been wary of Penn and concerned that his real loyalty was to Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. His senior advisers agreed, regarding Penn as arrogant and controlling, someone who pushed the boundaries of his job by dispensing strategic advice rather than simply interpreting data. Shortly after the meeting with Gore, Penn was fired. One of the party's most prominent pollsters sat out the presidential campaign, but he signed up that year with a familiar face making her inaugural run for office in Penn's native New York -- Hillary Clinton.

Eight years later, it is Clinton who is running for president, and Penn, 53, is her chief strategist.

Fact:

Obama has a strong pro-labor voting record. Obama voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement and has said that NAFTA should be renegotiated. Obama has cosponsored many important bills to help workers, including: an increase in the minimum wage, and the Employee Free Choice Act. He also championed efforts in the Senate to help air traffic controllers engaged in a labor dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration.

cuke (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-24-07 01:41 PM
Response to Reply #42

48. The burden of proof is on the one making the assertion. IE the OP

That would be you

The First Lady opposed making NAFTA a top priority this fall, senior officials point out, and remained silent on the subject for weeks. But Clinton campaigned hard for the treaty anyway, proving he could overcome long odds -- and his wife's doubts -- and win.

I don't think she's ever been a major of proponent of free trade, even if it's not something she's entirely against.