The Huffington Post: Strategy Corner with Mark Penn: Time for Obama to Lift the BP Fog With a New Strategy

President Obama’s political career and clout have never been in a more perilous state than this week as he faces mounting crises, plummeting poll numbers, and solutions that remain just out of reach.

The list of problems has become almost endless — the BP spill is becoming Obama’s hostage crisis, and will likely hit 100 days without a solution; unemployment remains stuck at nearly 10 percent; either from desperation or isolation, Israel has created a new Mideast challenge; Iran has enough nuclear fuel for two nuclear bombs; north Korea is threatening south Korea; the deficit is exploding and the healthcare bill remains unpopular. And these are just the top level problems; as a result, administration press briefings sound somewhat like the old theme song from “Car 54, Where Are You?” — a show from my childhood. And Voters across the country are wondering if they underestimated the value of experience and crisis management as important attributes for their president.

Despite this litany of growing problems, the president spent just 3 hours in New Orleans before heading off to a weekend vacation, attempting to move the traditional Arlington Cemetery Memorial Day ceremonies to Chicago, where they were rained out, filling up the Drudge report. Equally surprising was the White House decision to wait three months to answer questions on the Sestek job offer, and then do so on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

So what’s a president to do facing these problems and midterms around the corner?

First, almost all of these problems are about substance, not style, branding or even communications. They can’t be addressed with press conferences and panels. The public is looking for direct and immediate action, thought out and taken by the an administration that acted boldly when it took office to prevent a possible depression. Read more....huffingtonpost.com

MarkPenn.com: Sky News: Mark Penn Says Politics is the Real Winner of the UK Election Debates

US Expert Reveals The Real Debate ‘Winner’

By MARK PENN, US debates expert
Published April 30, 2010

After the media frenzy around “Bigotgate”, last night’s third and final TV debate took place took under a surreal backdrop.

Gordon Brown’s comments about Gillian Duffy were disastrous not just because of the offence it may have caused to (former) Labour voters.

It also took away the one remaining opportunity for Labour strategists to change the narrative of the election and it meant all eyes were on Brown to see how he would handle it.

…The final debate is over. The moment of choice will soon be upon us. After three debates, the clear winner has actually been British politics. Facing public anger and disillusionment for the past few years, especially after the expenses scandal, Iraq and the recession, the introduction of US-style leadership debates transformed a dull and formulaic campaign into something that truly engaged the country in politics once again….

Read Full Article: MarkPenn.com