Clinton Campaign Paid Penn's Company Nearly 3 Mil In April

[Me.]

According to HardBall, 1 in 6 dollars the campaign took in went to Penn & Company. So that's how much poor advice costs.

[Raven]

1. What possibly can one human being do to earn all that money?n/t

[Me.]

3. Boggles The Mind Doesn't It

:crazy:

Considering how inept he is

[FredScuttle]

19. Derail a freight train, I guess

n/t

[anigbrowl]

25. Well I don't think it all goes into his pocket personally

He's chief strategist but his company also does all her polling and market research. So there's no way to tell really. Pretty shitty value for money, however. I'd bet money that her gas-tax pander was his idea (anyone noticed she's given up on that, by the way?)

[Auntie Bush]

2. I wonder how many of your hard earned dollars went to Axelrod.

:shrug:

[Levgreee]

4. much less than went to Penn... he was paid a large amount but just a fraction of Penn

[Debi]

9. AND Obama has the $$ to pay Axelrod - compared to

deadbeat Clinton who has 10x the debt of Obama.

[Debi]

6. Is there really a comparison? n/t

[slick8790]

7. Probably less, and either way, looks like Axelrod's advice paid off. n/t

[anigbrowl]

14. $77,099.82 Sounds like a deal to me.

http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2008/M5/C00431445/B_PAYEE_C00431445.html
Axelrod's company is AKP Message and Media.

[Occam Bandage]

16. There we go.

[VolcanoJen]

23. Nice!!!

Looks like Axelrod wants to help get a Democratic President elected, rather than worry about how he's going to pay for (cough Mark) massages at (cough Penn) the Four Seasons.

Isn't David Plouffe employed by the same firm? So does that number include both their salaries?

[VolcanoJen]

21. Hey, if you've got the money, you can afford to hire the best.

Every penny I sent to Obama that ended up paying Axelrod and Plouffe was money well spent.

[americanstranger]

Ha. Nice comparison.

You're comparing a consultant who took on the best-known political family in America, against all odds, and is beating them...

...with a guy who was convinced that California ran a winner-take-all primary.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Nice try. If I was Clinton, I'd be demanding my money back.

- as

[Me.]

29. Less

For instance Plouffe gets 3 grand a week, Wolfson gets 8.

“Actually, for Penn, who resigned Sunday night, Clinton's campaign for the White House has been about as effective an economic stimulus program for himself as anything his clients have ever proposed for the nation. Clinton paid Penn a total of $8.9 million for direct mail, according to CQ MoneyLine. She paid Penn for polling, at $2.8 million. She even paid Penn $160,000 for consulting about polling, which presumably involved his telling her what an excellent pollster she'd hired. By Feb. 29, she also owed Penn's firm another $2.5 million for "consulting/polling," federal records show. March expenditures won't be revealed for another few weeks -- but through February, Clinton spent nearly 9 percent of the $138 million she's burned through in the race on Penn's firm alone.”

”Getting rich off free-spending campaigns is, of course, a time-honored tradition in politics, and it isn't just Mark Penn who does it. Consultants typically take a percentage of the money a candidate spends on whatever service it is they provide. Media consultants make more whenever they convince their clients they need to cut another ad, pollsters make a profit on each survey, and so on. Penn's counterpart as chief strategist on Barack Obama's campaign, David Axelrod, has seen at least $1.2 million paid to his Chicago-based firm, where David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, was a partner until he left to go work for the campaign. (Plouffe makes $12,000 a month in salary.) Obama has paid his chief pollster, Joel Benenson, $635,000 so far. Bob Shrum made at least $6 million for not getting John Kerry elected president four years ago. Raise your hand if you think you could have accomplished the same job for less.

“But what are they getting for their money? Do the seniors who aren't taking medication really think Wolfson's daily conference calls with the press are worth the $8,000 a week he made while Clinton lost primary after primary in February? Did Penn's direct mail really give Clinton an edge worth $8.9 million in the race against Obama? Don't candidates who are suddenly raising most of their money from people who can barely afford to send it in have some responsibility not to waste it once they get it? The sheer amount of money raised -- and spent -- this election ought to finally focus some attention on the consultant pay scales quietly established over the years in Washington.”

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/08/penn_fees/index.html

[Auntie Bush]

44. THANKS! That's the kind of post we need more here at DU.

[Me.]

46. You're Quite Welcome

I think, don't you, that legitimate questions can and should be answered?

[Auntie Bush]

47. Yes, I think criticism of either candidate should be welcome

as long as it isn't outrageous, a figment of someone's imagination or snarky. If true and factual...perfectly legitimate!

[Auntie Bush]

5. I wonder how many of your hard earned dollars went to Axelrod?

:shrug:

[tekisui]

8. Axelrod is worth whatever he is getting paid.

[Debi]

11. As compared to "We'll win all the delegates in California....." Penn

THAT idiocy alone should have gotten him fired.

[Doityourself]

36. As compared to" We don't need to prepare for caucus states..." Penn

[SoonerPride]

10. One campaign owes $20 million

The other has $50 million in the bank.

Looks like one can afford it and the other can't.

[Occam Bandage]

12. dupe

[Occam Bandage]

13. Per aningbowl, $77,000. Against $3,000,000? That's a steal.

[anigbrowl]

22. You Rounded it down by $99.82 WHAT ELSE ARE YOU HIDING?!

[Occam Bandage]

24. The fact that I edited that post to reflect the actual figures, instead of my poorly-remembered

and vague guess at the magnitude of difference?

[anigbrowl]

27. CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!!!Eleven!!!!!

[anigbrowl]

20. Typical. Too lazy to go look it up for yourself.

You must hate it that 'Obamabots' know how to do research and use things like google to check the answers before posting.

[Auntie Bush]

33. Yup! I'm too busy living my own life and getting ready for a meeting tonight..

I guess you'll still be here posting slop. Not much of a life!
Thanks for looking it up for me my little sweetie. :evilgrin:

[anigbrowl]

40. truth = slop, eh? I should have expected that from a Bush.

[hfojvt]

15. when did Mr. Columbia-trade supposedly step down?

Is he still getting paid and still providing the same services even after that? How many employees are involved in these payments? Either way, it seems Halliburtonesque.

[VolcanoJen]

17. Holeeeeeeeee crap! Wait... I thought Mark Penn lost his job?

Nice work if you can find it, I guess. :eyes:

[C_U_L8R]

34. Y'think Hillary was actually gonna tell the truth ?

bwahaha ... the Clintons treat us all like suckers.

[Stephanie]

18. She also OWES him $5M - I don't know why Matthews didn't report that too

I'm not sure if that debt is carried over or new spending. But the total to Penn in this report is $8M - $3M paid and $5M owed.

[PBS Poll-435]

26. Doesn't Penn's company distribute the $$$ for Ad buys and mailers?

I don't think all that cheese went for just consulting.

[anigbrowl]

28. That's why she can't fire him. Great strategy!

[PBS Poll-435]

32. You are missing the point.

Media consulting firms bill you for the whole package. They, in turn, pay for the airtime, the printing, etc.

So money that looks like it is going into Penn's greasy palm actually is going to the media.

[VolcanoJen]

38. But the profit is built-in, isn't it?

It's bizarre to hire a one-stop campaign manager/pollster/communication/advertisement shop, isn't it?

[PBS Poll-435]

42. Yeah...

For Sure. Hillary probably has no idea the real cost for airtime, etc.

And yeah. It turned out to be a REALLY dumb move.

[anigbrowl]

41. You're missing the point

I actually mentioned something similar in another message above. Hillary's problem is that with PSB handling all her media buys etc., he has too much leverage for her to fire him outright. They're stuck with him on board. Too bad.

[H2O Man]

30. 1 in 6 dollars

she has raised goes to the den of Mr. Penn.

[SoCalDem]

31. Here's hoping all those Hillie-pals keep sending in money

she still owes him..and a bunch of entrepreneurs & small-business people a shitload of moolah..

She's gotta keep the ponzi scheme going a little while longer & hope she gets them to keep sending money :(

[Doityourself]

35. Bad Management and leadership skills..she doesn't deserve to be President

[VolcanoJen]

37. Anyone have a definitive answer over Hillary's claims she raised $10 Million in 24 hours...

... the day after the Pennsylvania Primary?

:shrug:

[Ichingcarpenter]

39. This kid wants his bicycle and video games back!

[apocalypsehow]

43. "Ready on day one" - to piss away other people's money. n/t.

[barack the house]

45. Hillary must really love Penn to keep him on despite the campaigns downward trajectory.

Intresting she plans a lot of advisory committees if she gets the nomination Penn will be so busy.