Clinton Retains Dual-Purpose Penn

The dual roles of Mark Penn, as the CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller (B-M) and chief strategist for the campaign of Presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton, has irked some labor leaders. The New York Times reported that Bruce Raynor of UniteHere, and James Hoffa of the Teamsters union, wrote to Clinton expressing their concern about B-M's anti-labor work. "He cannot serve two masters, working for a pro-union candidate and working for anti-union companies," Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said. Subsequently, Penn told Atlantic Online, "I have recused myself from working on any management-side labor relations work." Ari Berman, who has written on Penn's PR work for The Nation, is unimpressed. Penn, he wrote, is "not distancing himself from the money the 'labor relations' wing brings in and the other controversial clients B-M represents in the defense, pharmaceutical and energy industries and the Republican lobbyists he oversees." Berman views Penn's "recusal" pledge as "a phony gesture that fails to address the underlying problems or the reasons prominent labor leaders are upset with Clinton's campaign."