The sound of one hand clapping (Mark Penn on the back)
With the departure of Mark Penn — Hillary Clinton’s chief pollster, and ambulatory heart attack risk — the Clinton campaign has once again shuffled the deck, trading political continuity for political expediency.
Now, don’t get me wrong: Penn wasn’t doing anyone any favors. Hillary’s chances — both nationally, and in the bitterly contested Pennsylvania primary — will undoubtedly improve due to his XXL absence. But this ongoing trend of high-profile dismissals reminds me of something I read in March.
In 2007, Marc Andreesen, a co-founder of Netscape, had the opportunity to interview Barack Obama. Reporting on his blog, Andreesen recollected a number of questions he posed the candidate — one being, how could Obama account for his relative lack of executive experience? This question is often raised, and I found Obama’s response — as paraphrased by Andreesen — interesting:
[Obama] said, watch how I run my campaign — you’ll see my leadership skills in action.
At the time, I wasn’t sure what to make of his answer — political campaigns are often very messy and chaotic, with a lot of turnover and flux; what conclusions could we possibly draw from one of those?
Well, as any political expert will tell you, it turns out that the Obama campaign has been one of the best organized and executed presidential campaigns in memory. … By almost any measure, the Obama campaign has simply out-executed both the Clinton and McCain campaigns.
You know … that’s a pretty ballsy prediction to make, Watch how I run my campaign. But, to the best of my knowledge, Obama has retained all the same key personnel since first announcing his presidential bid — and has managed his campaign finances well, while both Clinton and McCain have flirted with bankruptcy.
So, in the wake of Mark Penn’s inglorious exit (and, MAN! what a wake), it’s worth noting the relative tranquility of Barack Obama’s camp — and the near-daily soap opera of his opponents.
