Hillary's hiring of Mark Penn wasn't evil and a sign that Hillary is evil - but Penn is wrong on strategy.
Penn was hired by Lieberman for President 2004 as its pollster/adviser- to frame and sell Lieberman's positions. So in that position would you expect the pollster to dump on his Boss's positions? Of course not. But there are indeed those that remember Penn selling Lieberman and conclude he is therefore a GOP plant and evil to the causes of Democratic Party net-roots.
I do not like the way Mark Penn dismisses the net-roots just because Dean lost - I think he is very wrong. I also think looking back to the fact that Democrats haven't won more than 50 percent of the vote in a presidential election since 1976 (or more than 50.1% since 64) and coming to the conclusion we must be seen as close in policy to GOP policy - which is what Penn is said to believe - is wrong. I believe that if he is giving this advice in 08, as he is said to have given it in 04 - those that take that advice will lose - as they did in 04. A strategy consistent with garnering support in the South and some Midwestern states is the wrong approach, in my opinion. This will be an election that asks where do you want to take the nation and why - and not a small change/play well with the GOP/we provide competence election - in my opinion (this is also why I see Obama having a hard time getting his poll numbers out of 25% to 33% range).
If Hillary uses Penn for polling and framing she has made a great hire - if she uses him for policy, she is screwed. So far I do not see her using him for policy. Perhaps Penn is correct that the media is so totally controlled by the GOP via they ownership and managements GOP leanings that only a GOP LITE Democrat can get enough good press to win. While I do see the tight GOP control of the media, I do not see them as picking a horse in this race so far - they just do not like the current GOP alternatives.
Jeff Koopersmith has written that the fact that 80% of Americans who now embrace the concept of universal health care, and the well over 50% who want out of Iraq now, means that this is an election where Americans are ready for a sea change. I believe and hope he is correct.
I see nothing wrong with Penn's current advice for 08 - don't let it look like the Dem's pulled the plug before Iraq failure was obvious, kill the tax cuts for the rich while keeping the image as tax-cutters for the middle class (could we have a middle class tax cut via a 2% reduction in the Social Security payroll tax offset and paid for via ending the wage cap on the tax, and then extend the "payroll tax" to include investment income via an adjustment item in the IRS FIT annual 1040 filing - using this new money to fund a a basic coverage universal health?), embrace and re-frame the concept of family values - - but these ideas, in my opinion, are secondary to the leadership attitude and acting like you have convictions that lead you to sea change proposals for the country. Democrats should try reversing Reagan and say Government is not the problem - incompetent government and lack of regulatory control of corporations to prevent your jobs from being shipped overseas is the problem.
But getting back to the hiring of Mark Penn as evil and a sign that Hillary is evil - nonsense IMHO