Bill Clinton backed Mark Penn's aggressive attack stratagy

A New York Times article reports that Bill Clinton played a big role in the Clinton Campaign adopting an aggressively negative tone, emphasizing sharp attacks on Barack Obama.

The Long Road to a Clinton Exit

Backed by Bill Clinton, Mr. Penn pushed for aggressive attacks on Mr. Obama, something other advisers resisted. At one point, Mr. Penn argued that Mrs. Clinton should find subtle ways to exploit what he called Mr. Obama’s "lack of American roots," referring to his Kenyan father and his childhood years in Indonesia and even the offshore state of Hawaii, the campaign officials said. Mr. Penn recommended that Mrs. Clinton own the word "American"

As the campaign went into the Spring Bill Clinton took a larger role in calling the shots in Hillary's Campaign.

While Mr. Penn had pushed to go on offense against Mr. Obama, seeing that as the only way to change the dynamics of the race, Mr. Garin steered in the other direction. "There were lots of people who spent a lot of time thinking about what to say about Barack Obama and not enough people waking up every morning thinking about how to make the case for Hillary Clinton," he said in an interview.

As the race wore on, Mr. Clinton played a growing role in shaping strategy. Flying to events or at the local campaign headquarters, he would pore over maps of Pennsylvania with Governor Rendell, pushing for more time and resources in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Mark Penn turned out to be THE KoolAid Kid in the Clinton Campaign

Democratic supporters in Congress pressed her on a conference call to give up quickly. She gave in, hung up and asked top advisers to prepare a plan to withdraw. They met with her at campaign headquarters, where every member of her inner circle recommended she pull out and endorse Mr. Obama without preconditions or negotiations — every member except Mr. Penn, who said she should hold out for concessions.

This of course shows that Mark Penn was still part of the Clinton Campaign's inner circle for decision making.  

Bill Clinton's role in Hillary's Campaign was even larger than it seemed at the time. Bill Clinton's reputation has suffered during this campaign, and deservedly so.