Mark Penn
Encyclopedia
Mark J. Penn is the worldwide CEO of the public relations
firm Burson-Marsteller
and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates
. In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping the world. Penn's clients have included political and business leaders, including U.S. President
Bill Clinton
, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
, and Microsoft
Chairman Bill Gates
; he also served as chief strategist and pollster to Hillary Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign. Penn is married to Nancy Jacobson
, a professional fundraiser.
in New York City in 1972. He conducted his first poll, which determined that the Horace Mann faculty was more liberal than was the country at large on the issue of civil rights, when he was 13.
, he and his business partner Douglas Schoen became the pollsters for congressman Ed Koch
's second (and first successful run) for the mayoralty of the City of New York. In 1977, with the campaign against Mario Cuomo
for the Democratic nomination in full swing, Penn sought a way to conduct polls more quickly than the mainframe and punched card system he and Schoen were making use of at Columbia University. He purchased a self-assembled "microcomputer" kit and created a program that could compile polls in a fraction of the time than had been done before. By creating this "overnight poll" system, Penn allowed the campaign to conduct polls to determine messages and evaluate tactics on a daily basis, a strategic advantage that contributed to Koch's eventual victory over Cuomo.
Penn also played a significant role in Koch's 1985 re-election, for which he and Schoen developed direct mailings, set up phone banks, organized volunteers and canvassers, and coordinated fundraising. That year, Koch won both the Democratic primary and the general election, besting New York City Council
President Carol Bellamy
.
in Venezuela
. Because Venezuela did not at that time have universal phone coverage, Penn partnered with Venezuelan polling firms to go door-to-door to collect interviews. He also helped the campaign develop the slogan "Ya Basta," or "Enough", critiquing the spending policies of the incumbent party. Herrera carried the election by about 3% points.
The election marked the beginning of Penn's successful involvement in Latin American politics. Since 1979, Penn's firm has helped elect more than a half dozen heads of state in Latin America, including Carlos Andrés Pérez
in Venezuela, Belisario Betancur
and Virgilio Barco in Colombia
, and Leonel Fernández
in the Dominican Republic
.
's campaign for re-election as prime minister of Israel
. When Begin called the June elections in January 1981, public polls said that it was likely that his party, Likud
, would win 20 seats in the Knesset to Labor's 58. A New York Times article published in March of that year stated that Begin was ‘probably in his final months as Prime Minister.’ Penn & Schoen applied the rapid polling techniques they’d developed on Ed Koch's first campaign for mayor to provide Begin with a daily understanding of attitudes of the Israeli electorate. Ultimately, Begin defeated Labor, led by Shimon Peres
, by 10,405 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast.
, which was experiencing image problems due to bankruptcy at the time, was the firm's first major corporate client.
In 1993, Penn, Schoen & Berland was engaged by AT&T
's new advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding to guide a response to MCI
's "Friends and Family" plan, an upstart competitor for AT&T's long distance services. To help AT&T understand how best to counter MCI's strongest messages, Penn created the ‘mall testing’ methodology for competitive advertising research. In the ‘mall tests,’ Penn showed randomly selected mall shoppers MCI ads head-to-head with proposed new AT&T ads. Using this methodology, Penn's firm determined messages resulting in AT&T's "True" plan and its $200 million advertising campaign. As a result of this campaign, by the end of 1994, AT&T had signed up 14 million new long-distance customers.
Penn has served as a key strategic advisor to Bill Gates and Microsoft since the mid-1990s. Penn began working with Microsoft when the company faced antitrust litigation initiated by the U.S. Justice Department. Penn also created the famous "blue sweater" advertisement that featured Bill Gates and was instrumental in reclaiming the company's reputation. In 2006, a survey of global opinion leaders found that Microsoft was the world's most-trusted company, a development which The Wall Street Journal
partially attributed to Penn's advice.
His other corporate clients have included Ford Motor Company
, Merck & Co.
, Verizon, BP
, and McDonald's
.
Penn served as pollster to the president for President Clinton for 6 years. During that time, he became one of the president's most prominent and influential advisers. In 2000, the Washington Post concluded in a news analysis that no pollster had ever become "so thoroughly integrated into the policymaking operation" of a presidential administration as had Penn.
, Penn and his wife, Nancy Jacobson "helped brand the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as a depository for special-interest contributions."
Penn laid out his "strategy for winning" in a March 19, 2007 memo to the campaign. According to the memo, Penn believed Clinton's victory would be built upon a coalition of voters he called "Invisible Americans," a sort of reprise of Bill Clinton's "forgotten middle class", which would be composed of women and lower and middle class voters. Eventually it was this coalition that she ended up winning a year later.
On December 13, 2007, Penn gained attention when he used the word "cocaine" on MSNBC's Hardball in response to questions about Barack Obama's admission of drug use. MSNBC's David Schuster and Norah O'Donnell falsely asserted that Penn "brought up" the drug use on Hardball, though it had been discussed earlier by Chris Matthews in his segment.
Clinton was the front-runner in the early months of the Democratic primary, but in January 2008 she lost the Iowa caucus to then-Senator Barack Obama
.
In February 2008, the Clinton campaign regained momentum, in part due to the "3am ad" conceived by Penn. Airing five days before crucial and very close democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio, the ad amplified doubts voters had about then-Senator Obama's preparedness for the office, and refocused the debate to one on national security. Shortly after, Clinton won both primaries in Ohio and Texas.
On April 6, 2008, Penn agreed to step down as chief strategist when it was disclosed that he met with representatives of Colombia's government to help promote a free trade agreement that Clinton
opposed. He remained doing essentially a similar role until
the end of the campaign.
In May 2008, Time's Karen Tumulty suggested that Penn thought the Democratic primaries were "winner-take-all", rather than alloted proportionally. In her story, she cited anonymous sources who attended a Clinton strategy session with Penn in 2007. Howard Wolfson
, Clinton's communication director, and Penn both denied that the scene had taken place.
Clinton's campaign was hobbled by infighting among the staff including much hostility towards Penn, and disagreement in strategy such as between Penn's strategy of going negative against Obama and other staff who wanted to maintain a positive campaign.
As of October 2009, Federal Election filings show that Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign
owes Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates less than $1 million.
's Conservative Party by 3% in the general parliamentary elections.
, examines how small ideas can catch fire and lead to big changes. For example, Penn shows how a mere one percent of the American public, or 3 million people, can create a "microtrend" capable of launching a major business or even a new cultural movement, changing commercial, political and social landscapes. From December 2008 to December 2009, Penn authored a regular online column for the Wall Street Journal called "Microtrends", focusing on demographic trends in society and business. Microtrends appeared regularly in the Media & Marketing section of WSJ.com.
, said that Obama would need to reconnect with the American people as Bill Clinton did following the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress.
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller is a global public relations and communications firm headquartered in the United States. Burson-Marsteller operates 67 wholly owned offices and 71 affiliate offices in 98 countries across six continents...
and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates
Penn, Schoen & Berland
Penn, Schoen Berland is a market research, political polling and strategic consulting firm with American offices in New York, Washington, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, and San Francisco, and international offices in London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Dubai, and Delhi. The firm was founded in 1975...
. In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping the world. Penn's clients have included political and business leaders, including U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Chairman Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
; he also served as chief strategist and pollster to Hillary Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign. Penn is married to Nancy Jacobson
Nancy Jacobson
Nancy Jacobson is a United States Democratic Party fundraiser. She has been the National Finance Chair for Indiana Senator Evan Bayh since 1995, and was Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Leadership Council under President Clinton...
, a professional fundraiser.
Family background and first poll
Penn was born in New York and raised in Riverdale. His father was a Lithuanian immigrant who died when Penn was 10. He was raised by his mother Blanche, who worked as a school teacher. Both of his brothers credit Penn with keeping the family together after their father's death. Penn graduated from the Horace Mann SchoolHorace Mann School
Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
in New York City in 1972. He conducted his first poll, which determined that the Horace Mann faculty was more liberal than was the country at large on the issue of civil rights, when he was 13.
Harvard
Penn entered Harvard in 1972. Initially waitlisted, Penn took the train to Boston to lobby for admission. At Harvard, Penn majored in Political Science and, as an City Editor of the Harvard Crimson, wrote and reported 99 articles. His work for the paper included reporting and analysis on the Cambridge City Council elections of 1975, the Harvard admission process, and the controversy over the proposed construction in Cambridge of the John F. Kennedy Library. Penn graduated from Harvard College in 1976. Penn and his future business partner, Doug Schoen started Penn & Schoen – now the global market research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates – in their dorm room.Ed Koch mayoral campaign of 1977 and 1985
In the fall of 1976, while Penn was a first-year law student at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he and his business partner Douglas Schoen became the pollsters for congressman Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
's second (and first successful run) for the mayoralty of the City of New York. In 1977, with the campaign against Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
for the Democratic nomination in full swing, Penn sought a way to conduct polls more quickly than the mainframe and punched card system he and Schoen were making use of at Columbia University. He purchased a self-assembled "microcomputer" kit and created a program that could compile polls in a fraction of the time than had been done before. By creating this "overnight poll" system, Penn allowed the campaign to conduct polls to determine messages and evaluate tactics on a daily basis, a strategic advantage that contributed to Koch's eventual victory over Cuomo.
Penn also played a significant role in Koch's 1985 re-election, for which he and Schoen developed direct mailings, set up phone banks, organized volunteers and canvassers, and coordinated fundraising. That year, Koch won both the Democratic primary and the general election, besting New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
President Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy has been Director of the Peace Corps, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , and President and CEO of World Learning. In April, 2009, Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors...
.
Luis Herrera Campins presidential campaign of 1978 and Latin American politics
In 1978, Penn conducted polling for the presidential campaign of Luis Herrera CampinsLuis Herrera Campins
Luis Antonio Herrera Campins was President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. He was elected to one five-year term in 1978. He was a member of the COPEI party.- Early Life and career:...
in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Because Venezuela did not at that time have universal phone coverage, Penn partnered with Venezuelan polling firms to go door-to-door to collect interviews. He also helped the campaign develop the slogan "Ya Basta," or "Enough", critiquing the spending policies of the incumbent party. Herrera carried the election by about 3% points.
The election marked the beginning of Penn's successful involvement in Latin American politics. Since 1979, Penn's firm has helped elect more than a half dozen heads of state in Latin America, including Carlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez , also known as CAP and often referred to as El Gocho , was a Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993. His first presidency was known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to...
in Venezuela, Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas is a Colombian statesman, who as a member of the Colombian Conservative Party was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.- Biographic data :...
and Virgilio Barco in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, and Leonel Fernández
Leonel Fernández
Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna is a Dominican lawyer, academic, and the current President of the Dominican Republic since 2004. He held the same office from 1996 to 2000...
in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
.
Menachem Begin campaign for prime minister of 1981
In 1981, Penn & Schoen conducted polling for Menachem BeginMenachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
's campaign for re-election as prime minister of Israel
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
. When Begin called the June elections in January 1981, public polls said that it was likely that his party, Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
, would win 20 seats in the Knesset to Labor's 58. A New York Times article published in March of that year stated that Begin was ‘probably in his final months as Prime Minister.’ Penn & Schoen applied the rapid polling techniques they’d developed on Ed Koch's first campaign for mayor to provide Begin with a daily understanding of attitudes of the Israeli electorate. Ultimately, Begin defeated Labor, led by Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
, by 10,405 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast.
Corporate work
In the late 1980s, Penn was the force behind his firm's drive to win corporate consulting clients. TexacoTexaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
, which was experiencing image problems due to bankruptcy at the time, was the firm's first major corporate client.
In 1993, Penn, Schoen & Berland was engaged by AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's new advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding to guide a response to MCI
MCI Communications
MCI Communications Corp. was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and ushered in the competitive long-distance telephone industry. It was headquartered in Washington,...
's "Friends and Family" plan, an upstart competitor for AT&T's long distance services. To help AT&T understand how best to counter MCI's strongest messages, Penn created the ‘mall testing’ methodology for competitive advertising research. In the ‘mall tests,’ Penn showed randomly selected mall shoppers MCI ads head-to-head with proposed new AT&T ads. Using this methodology, Penn's firm determined messages resulting in AT&T's "True" plan and its $200 million advertising campaign. As a result of this campaign, by the end of 1994, AT&T had signed up 14 million new long-distance customers.
Penn has served as a key strategic advisor to Bill Gates and Microsoft since the mid-1990s. Penn began working with Microsoft when the company faced antitrust litigation initiated by the U.S. Justice Department. Penn also created the famous "blue sweater" advertisement that featured Bill Gates and was instrumental in reclaiming the company's reputation. In 2006, a survey of global opinion leaders found that Microsoft was the world's most-trusted company, a development which The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
partially attributed to Penn's advice.
His other corporate clients have included Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Merck & Co.
Merck & Co.
Merck & Co., Inc. , also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The Merck headquarters is located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, an unincorporated area in Readington Township...
, Verizon, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
.
President Bill Clinton - 1994–2000
In 1994, Penn and Schoen were asked to help President Bill Clinton recover from the Democratic Party's dramatic losses during that year's midterm elections. The pollsters urged Clinton to move to the center, emphasizing stepped-up law enforcement, balancing the budget and other issues.Penn served as pollster to the president for President Clinton for 6 years. During that time, he became one of the president's most prominent and influential advisers. In 2000, the Washington Post concluded in a news analysis that no pollster had ever become "so thoroughly integrated into the policymaking operation" of a presidential administration as had Penn.
US federal government shutdown of 1995
Beginning in August 1995, at Clinton's request Penn conducted numerous polls to understand what the political ramifications would be if the federal government were to shut down over disagreement between the legislative and executive branches over the budget. Penn tested many different scenarios for Clinton, and in each case the research showed that the American public would back the President and blame Republicans if the government shut down. On November 14, 1995, with no budget signed, major portions of the federal government became inoperative. They were restored by the passage of a temporary spending bill a few days later, but on December 16, 1995, the federal government again shut down, this time for a period of 21 days. Ultimately, Newt Gingrich and the Republican-controlled Congress bore much of the political fallout for the shutdown, vindicating Penn's polling.1996 presidential campaign
During President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, Penn used the mall tests he had developed for AT&T to test presidential campaign ads. He also created the "NeuroPersonality Poll", a survey that blended standard political and demographic questions with lifestyle, attitudinal, and psychographic questions, some adapted from Myers-Briggs. Penn's 1996 Neuro Poll helped him identify a new swing voter: the "soccer mom." Previously pollsters had thought that defining voter variables were things such age and income; Penn argued that a key defining variable was also marital status. He found that if voters had children at home, the gap was even wider: parents were 10-15 points more likely to lean Republican. Based on this analysis, Penn urged Clinton to focus on policies that appealed to suburban parents and to speak about these policies in terms of values rather than economics. He subsequently became famous for focusing on the "soccer mom", cited as the key swing vote that helped President Bill Clinton get re-elected in 1996.Second term
After the election, and for most of the second term, Penn and Schoen were hired to conduct 2-4 White House polls per month and met weekly with the President and the White House staff in the residence to review polls and policy ideas. These polls influenced President Clinton's thinking and helped to refine his "new Democrat" language and policies that are one of his distinctive political contributions.Impeachment
When allegations of President Clinton's extra-marital affair with Monica Lewinsky first surfaced in January 1998, Penn conducted polls to help the administration craft its response. Penn subsequently led the research effort monitoring Clinton's level of public support throughout the impeachment, until Clinton was acquitted on February 13, 1999.Senatorial campaigns - 2000, 2006
In 2000, then-First Lady Hillary Clinton asked Penn to advise her on her run for the U.S. Senate from New York. During the campaign, tension brewed between Penn, who urged Clinton to focus on the issues, and other advisers, who urged Clinton to focus more on personality. Clinton followed Penn's advice and won the election. Penn served again as Clinton's pollster in her successful 2006 Senate re-election campaign.Presidential campaign - 2008
In 2008, he served as chief strategist to Hillary Clinton's campaign for president. Again, Penn and his colleagues held differences of opinion over how much to "humanize" Clinton, with Penn arguing that the vast majority of voters cared more about substance than style. According to New York Times columnist Frank RichFrank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
, Penn and his wife, Nancy Jacobson "helped brand the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as a depository for special-interest contributions."
Penn laid out his "strategy for winning" in a March 19, 2007 memo to the campaign. According to the memo, Penn believed Clinton's victory would be built upon a coalition of voters he called "Invisible Americans," a sort of reprise of Bill Clinton's "forgotten middle class", which would be composed of women and lower and middle class voters. Eventually it was this coalition that she ended up winning a year later.
On December 13, 2007, Penn gained attention when he used the word "cocaine" on MSNBC's Hardball in response to questions about Barack Obama's admission of drug use. MSNBC's David Schuster and Norah O'Donnell falsely asserted that Penn "brought up" the drug use on Hardball, though it had been discussed earlier by Chris Matthews in his segment.
Clinton was the front-runner in the early months of the Democratic primary, but in January 2008 she lost the Iowa caucus to then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
In February 2008, the Clinton campaign regained momentum, in part due to the "3am ad" conceived by Penn. Airing five days before crucial and very close democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio, the ad amplified doubts voters had about then-Senator Obama's preparedness for the office, and refocused the debate to one on national security. Shortly after, Clinton won both primaries in Ohio and Texas.
On April 6, 2008, Penn agreed to step down as chief strategist when it was disclosed that he met with representatives of Colombia's government to help promote a free trade agreement that Clinton
opposed. He remained doing essentially a similar role until
the end of the campaign.
In May 2008, Time's Karen Tumulty suggested that Penn thought the Democratic primaries were "winner-take-all", rather than alloted proportionally. In her story, she cited anonymous sources who attended a Clinton strategy session with Penn in 2007. Howard Wolfson
Howard Wolfson
Howard Wolfson is counselor to the Mayor of New York City and a Democratic political strategist. He replaced Kevin Sheekey as Deputy Mayor of New York City for governmental affairs....
, Clinton's communication director, and Penn both denied that the scene had taken place.
Clinton's campaign was hobbled by infighting among the staff including much hostility towards Penn, and disagreement in strategy such as between Penn's strategy of going negative against Obama and other staff who wanted to maintain a positive campaign.
As of October 2009, Federal Election filings show that Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008
New York junior Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton had expressed interest in the 2008 United States presidential election since at least October 2002, drawing media speculation on whether she would become a candidate. No woman has ever won the nomination of a major party in the...
owes Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates less than $1 million.
Tony Blair campaign for prime minister of 2005
Penn advised British Prime Minister Tony Blair and conducted polling during his successful campaign for an unprecedented third term in 2005. President Bill Clinton had recommended Penn's services to British Prime Minister Tony Blair when they met at Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004. Penn formulated the concept behind Blair's campaign slogan, "Forward Not Back," and refined it by conducting phone interviews with British swing voters through Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. Blair's Labour Party bested Michael HowardMichael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
's Conservative Party by 3% in the general parliamentary elections.
Microtrends
His book, Microtrends, published by Hachette Book Group USAHachette Book Group USA
Hachette Book Group is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from...
, examines how small ideas can catch fire and lead to big changes. For example, Penn shows how a mere one percent of the American public, or 3 million people, can create a "microtrend" capable of launching a major business or even a new cultural movement, changing commercial, political and social landscapes. From December 2008 to December 2009, Penn authored a regular online column for the Wall Street Journal called "Microtrends", focusing on demographic trends in society and business. Microtrends appeared regularly in the Media & Marketing section of WSJ.com.
2010 Midterm Elections
Following the Democrats' 2010 midterm election losses, Penn, appearing on Hardball with Chris MatthewsHardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, said that Obama would need to reconnect with the American people as Bill Clinton did following the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress.