Clinton's chief political strategist, Mark Penn, steps aside days after
news surfaced on his meeting with Colombia on free-trade deal that Clinton
opposes.

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMSHIRE, UNITED STATES (REUTERS)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's chief political
strategist, Mark Penn, stepped aside on Sunday (April 6) after news that he
lobbied for a free trade treaty with Colombia that Clinton opposes.
    A meeting between Penn and Colombia's U.S. ambassador over the trade
deal posed political problems for the campaign of the New York senator, who is
vying with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to become the Democratic nominee in the
November election.
    "I think letting Mark Penn go or at least demoting him was
something that the Clinton campaign had to do. Not so much because the average
voter cares about this issue, but because the super-delegates care about it
and she's got to maintain her lead among them," said Jennifer Lawless,
said political science professor at Brown University.
    Anxiety about free trade is widespread among the working-class voters
Clinton and Obama are courting and both candidates oppose the deal with
Colombia.
    Penn apologized for the March 31 meeting with the Colombian envoy,
which he said was held in his separate role as CEO of Burson-Marsteller
Worldwide, a lobbying firm hired by Colombia to promote a U.S. trade deal with
the South American country.