Firing Offense for Mark Penn? Yes!

Poor Mark Penn. The Chief Political Strategist that everybody loves to hate is at it again. Only this time, he may just have gone too far. You see, this week he was moonlighting for his lobbying gig, and attended a conference promoting a free-trade agreement with Colombia that Hillary Clinton officially opposes. From the Wall Street Journal:

Attendance by this adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Columbian 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. The firm has a contract with the South American nation to promote congressional approval of the trade deal, among other things, according to filings with the Justice Department.

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Mr. Penn's campaign-consulting firm, received more than $10 million in payments from the Clinton campaign as of the end of February, according to election filings.

Mr. Penn declined to comment. Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Clinton's campaign said in an email that "Mark was not there on behalf of the campaign" and referred further questions to Burson-Marsteller. "Sen. Clinton's opposition to the trade deal with Columbia is clear," Mr. Wolfson added.

So, this begs the question. Since Clinton knows that Penn is actively promoting a trade deal that she opposes, will she see fit to rid herself of Penn once and for all? Penn, who, according to Burson-Marsteller's website is known as "Master of the Message," has seen his share of bad publicity in this campaign. Perhaps a new nickname, if not a new job title altogether, is in order.

UPDATE: On Friday, Penn declared that his meeting with the Colombian Government had been "an error in judement." On Saturday, the Colombian Government declared that Mark Penn declaring the meeting was an error in judgment was itself an error in judgment, and they've fired Penn's lobbying firm. Well, at least somebody canned the "Master of the Message."

UPDATE #2: On Sunday, Mark Penn was ousted from the Clinton campaign. The Colombia debacle was drawing strong scrutiny from unions. ABC reports that a coalition of seven labor organizations, titled "Change to Win," put pressure on the Clinton campaign to fire Penn:

"The Penn situation--and teh lack of action by you--raises serious questions about the veracity of your claims of what you would do should you become president," the unions said in a statement released Saturday.

Penn's departure is a welcome development, for Clinton and everybody else.

UPDATE #3: Does Penn still live inside the Clinton campaign after all? Now the campaign is saying simply that Penn's role has "changed."