Mon, April 07, 2008 - 3:48 PM

When Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multi-national force in Iraq, gives his congressional testimony on the war Tuesday, all three presidential candidates could be among his questioners.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are both on the Senate Armed Services Committee. McCain is its top Republican, but before he attends the hearing he is scheduled to speak outside the Senate with a group of veterans rallying support for Petraeus and the troop surge strategy. Veterans for Freedom are bringing their “Heroes Tour” to Washington in time for the first report from the top commander in Iraq since September.

When Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker head to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama will have his chance to question the men. Democratic Sens. Jim Webb, of Virginia, and Bill Nelson, of Florida, are the only colleagues of the candidates who could sit in on both interactions. Webb and Nelson sit on both committees hearing from the general and the diplomat Tuesday.

-Neil Simon

Mark Penn’s demotion at the Clinton campaign could put free trade and union issues back front and center in the Democratic nomination fight two weeks before the Pennsylvania primary.

In the days leading up to Ohio, a state Clinton ended up winning by 10 points, the Clinton campaign hammered Obama for being secretly in favor of NAFTA– the free trade agreement that many blue collar workers blame for the loss of many of their old Midwest factory jobs. An Obama adviser reportedly told the Canadian government that Obama’s campaign speeches against NAFTA were designed to play to a growing “protectionist sentiment” in the U.S. and not to be taken seriously by the Canadians.

But now ahead of Pennsylvania, the trade shoe is on the other foot with Clinton dismissing top aide Mark Penn after he met with the ambassador of Colombia. The Colombian government seeks a free trade deal with the U.S. that Clinton has opposed.

Penn, CEO of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, has been in other tricky spots before. Last summer he had to explain his firm’s involvement in an anti-union effort in California, work he said he recused himself from at the time.

American Research Group polls that had Clinton leading by six points last week now show her and Obama tied at 45 percent each. That’s before the Penn flap hit the news cycle. If Pennsylvania democrats are looking to save domestic jobs and vote against no-bid contracts in Iraq this month, what will they think when they learn Clinton’s pollster’s company was also being paid by the likes of Blackwater USA and the Colombian government?

-Neil Simon