Thursday, July 10, 2008

Here's the latest eye-popping item in the Only-in-Downtown- Washington Department: Karen Hughes, the onetime indispensable communications aide to President Bush, has been hired by Mark J. Penn, the onetime indispensable aide to President Bill Clinton and, more recently, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Hughes, former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, will join Burson-Marsteller, the public relations firm, as global vice chair. She will, in effect, be working for Penn, who is the firm's worldwide chief executive.

Penn resigned in April as chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, amid complaints about his leadership and concerns that his business and campaign duties presented the appearance of conflicts of interest. Hughes struggled in her State Department assignment of improving the U.S. image abroad.

Nonetheless, Penn and Hughes say they are thrilled to be working together. The company said Hughes will provide "clients with senior level communications strategy." Penn added: "I cannot think of anyone better suited to counsel our clients."

In another partisan switch, former representative Calvin M. Dooley (Calif.), a conservative Blue Dog Democrat, was chosen as the new president of the American Chemistry Council, the lobby for chemical manufacturers. He replaces Jack N. Gerard, a Republican.

Dooley has been president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), since 2007. He was previously president of the Food Products Association, which merged with GMA.

Gerard was recently named the new president of the American Petroleum Institute, the main lobby for the oil and gas industry.

-- Jeffrey H. Birnbaum