To date, Mark Penn's firm has received $4.3 million from the Clinton campaign. Obviously, the thing to do, if you want to be in politics, is not to be a candidate, but a consultant. You don't have to shake hands or kiss babies, and no matter what happens, you never really lose.
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Makes one wonder how much Bob Shrum made through the years as a "loser".
His name is seriously Mark Penn? Talk about parents with an evil sense of humor...
I hope you're kidding.
$4.3 million over the campaign, meaning what, a year, for the firm (meaning not just him, but his assistants and the taxman)? The life of a political consultant is hell: during campaign seasons you're on the road 24/7, you work round the clock, and oh yeah, your job is one of the most cynical on earth.
If you're going to do mind-numbing, extremely stressful work of dubious morality that most often requires elite degrees, then i-banking or consulting is a MUCH better gig.
Believe me, except for some lobbyists, political consultants aren't in it for the money. Not that they're into it out of a sincere belief in moral values. Most of them are into it for the thrill.
(And yes, I'm a former political consultant.)
Well, since Hillary is losing money (some of her campaign workers have agreed to work for free this month) and Obama is a money making machine, if Hillary loses, it may well be Mark Penn's fault!
Well, since Hillary is losing money (some of her campaign workers have agreed to work for free this month) and Obama is a money making machine, if Hillary loses, it may well be Mark Penn's fault!
The role of "consultants" in Democrat campaigns is well known, and scandalous.
Republican arrangements are different, but I am not sure of what they are.
The real story here is how Hillary has exceeded an unlimited budget. Her Senate campaign in 2006 overspent also. A cynic could question her executive ability.
Mark Penn is indeed pretty bad, but I can beat it. My father-in-law was Robert Penn. As a kid (in the fifties) he was known as Bobby. Needless to say, he hated his name and his sons have names that were picked for their incorruptability on the playground.
But she's a Democrat, isn't she?
This post is written in the style typical of someone with a "employee" attitude and mindset. Mr. Penn could probably make more money with less heartache in a straight job.
Your petty envy is showing. Thanks for the data.
The still are owed another $1.5 mil for work already performed, so he's up to almost $6 mil. Also, what date is the reporting thru. The disclosure says Feb 7th, but aren't they filing quarterly reports? If so it would be $6 mil thru the end of last year, before a single vote had been cast.
And what the he!! is going on with their phone usage? They owe AT&T close to 90K?? Talk about two Americas, they're threatening to shut me off when I get to about $200.
I'll concur here with everybody else - I've known a lot of political consultants, and they all work absurd hours during election season - like, every waking minute, just like the candidates and campaign managers do. A lot of them are also pretty terribly paid - only $1.7 million of that was for consulting, and that presumably covers multiple people over the whole campaign. And remember, this is the guy at the very pinnacle of the industry. If you're consulting for anyone running a poorer campaign than Hillary Clinton(i.e., anyone else in the entire history of politics), then you're going to get paid a whole lot less. Being Mark Penn is nice enough, but being an average consultant really isn't. You're doing it because, as a perpetually broke pollster friend of mine says, "You have the genetic defect. You'll be in politics for the rest of your life", not out of hopes of getting a few million bucks.
I have an ex-girlfriend that worked for Mark Penn (and thus indirectly, for Hillary's first senate campaign back in 2000). While I'm sure he does pretty well, there's a lot of material and labor that goes into that goes into the kajillion polls, surveys and focus groups that he's doing for her. It's certainly not him sitting by himself at a desk somewhere.
Also, it's perhaps worth noting that, during non-peak periods of political activity, his firm does a lot of market research for private businesses. My understanding is that's where he makes the really big bucks. His fame from the political stuff is a nice form of advertising for that market as a result.