Alex Massie Alex Massie

Will Mark Penn Watch the Inauguration?

Remember Mark Penn? Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist provided much entertainment during the primary campaign. It’s especially worth reminding you of the most famous memo he sent Hillary in which he promised that Barack Obama was, well, toast:

His roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values… Let’s explicitly own “American” in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn’t… We are never going to say anything about his background – we have to show the value of ours when it comes to making decisions, understanding the needs of most American – the invisible Americans…

Well that didn’t work out too well, did it? The point is not really to chuckle at Penn’s expense but to remember that, in fact, Penn’s analysis was widely shared.

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