Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s chief political strategist, Mark Penn, stepped aside on Sunday after news that he lobbied for a free trade treaty with Colombia that Clinton opposes.
A meeting between Penn and Colombia’s US 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.
“After the events of the last few days, Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the Clinton campaign,” the campaign manager, Maggie Williams, said in a statement. 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 apologised 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 US trade deal with the South American country.
John McCain, who has already won enough votes to secure the Republican nomination, took a break from campaigning but outlined plans to pursue voters often ignored by his party, which had focused on getting conservatives to the polls.