Senator Hillary Clinton brought her campaign to Chicago today to speak at a candidate forum sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Big Labor is sizing up the candidates in order to aid them in the decision on who they should endorse among the Democrats for President. Before her plane even touched down, a controversy erupted over the connection of a Clinton staffer to a public relations firm that takes on anti-union clients: Labor activists demand that Clinton give the aide, Mark J. Penn, a choice: sever connections to the public relations firm that he heads or leave the campaign. Apart from working as a strategist and pollster for Clinton, Penn is worldwide president and chief executive of Burson-Marsteller, which has more than 100 offices in 59 countries. The firm's clients include Cintas Corp. of Cincinnati, which manufactures and launders corporate uniforms. With Burson-Marsteller's assistance, Cintas has staved off a push to unionize its workforce, and the public relations firm's website at...(Read Full Post)