Mark Penn's Got No Time for Tears

Perhaps no one in the Clinton campaign had more riding on the New Hamsphire results than Mark Penn, the campaigns chief strategist and pollster, who has taken heat inside and outside of the campaign for the loss in Iowa. So what happened in New Hampshire? “I think people started to see the real difference between the candidates as she began drawing the contrasts and then they also heard her speak from her heart,” he said. “Those two things together stopped the momentum.” When asked of the importance of the moment Monday when she choked up in a Portsmouth diner, Penn said, “Remember, these were voters who were with her before, and they took another look. It started with the debate, and then all the rallies and people saw her speak from her heart.” I asked him if the possibility of an emotional, personal connection swaying voters back to Clinton didn’t run contrary to his emphasis on reaching voters by through policy issues. “She won economy voters,” Penn said, before jumping off the line.