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Opinion: What Mark Penn accomplished

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You’ve got to give Mark Penn credit for this: His egregiously boneheaded decision to continue to help the Colombian government promote a free trade agreement with the United States -- which his most high-profile client, Hillary Clinton, has made a point of opposing -- has called far more attention to the pact than otherwise would have been the case.

The timing might have been coincidental, but President Bush can count on longer stories and a more extensive television coverage by picking today to send to Congress his request for approval of the accord. Aside from generally supporting such agreements as beneficial to long-term U.S. economic growth, Bush argues that this deal will help an ally fighting terrorists and drug dealers.

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Clinton’s opposition to the pact also will be more intensely spotlighted. Following Bush’s move, here’s the statement her campaign quickly issued:

‘I am disappointed that President Bush has decided to send the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress. As I have said consistently for several months, I oppose signing any trade deal with Colombia while violence against trade unionists continues and the perpetrators are not brought to justice. The United States should be pursuing trade agreements that promote human rights and worker rights, not overlook egregious abuses. ‘I will vote against the President’s Colombia trade agreement, and will urge my Senate colleagues to do the same.’

The furor over Penn’s effort to compartmentalize his work for Colombia and Clinton cost him both jobs (technically, he is supposed to continue to ‘provide polling and advice’ to her campaign, but somehow we doubt his words are going to carry much clout anymore).

But the Penn story also had this effect, we’ve noticed: combined with the deft move by Clinton and her husband, the ex-president, to release their much-awaited tax returns on a Friday afternoon, the cable news stations today aren’t spending all that much time relating the details (like exactly how lucrative Bill Clinton’s work forLos Angeles-based businessman Ron Burkle proved to be).

-- Don Frederick

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