Brown Passes On Penn

The Clintonism-is-Dead meme, gaining strength today after Terry McAuliffe's thumping in the Virginia governor's race, can draw some additional momentum from an item in today's First Read. Chuck Todd reports that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown--who's staring at a McAuliffe-like thumping himself--has passed over Clinton pollster Mark Penn in favor of Joel Benenson and his firm Benenson Strategy Group. Benenson, of course, polls for Obama. Adding to the sting, all three principals in the firm--Benenson, Pete Brodnitz, and Carl Rossow--once worked for Penn, and left under less-than-friendly terms.