Mark Penn, the One Man Band of Washington Influence

Share this

Mark Penn, the worldwide CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller, "is a man who wears many hats." In addition to being a PR executive, he's the "chief strategist to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination." Penn's also the president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, which "will be paid millions by the Clinton campaign." Moreover, "Burson-Marsteller is a subsidiary of WPP Group, a London-based advertising and PR giant that owns many of the biggest names on K Street," including Quinn Gillespie, Wexler & Walker, Ogilvy Government Relations, Public Strategies, Dewey Square Group, and Hill & Knowlton. Penn's boss, Howard Paster -- himself "an ex-aide to President Clinton and a high-level volunteer for Hillary Clinton's campaign" -- said the WPP units are run independently, with "no risk of any conflict between clients." Penn, a long-time adviser to Microsoft, said he doesn't "personally" do any lobbying.