Not a good day for Mark Penn.

Original Clintonite Paul Begala ripped on him at a breakfast appearance this morning:

"I have nothing but contempt for Mr. Penn. And for those of us who wanted to see him out from the beginning, it became almost a Rumsfeldian thing. And he is not even fired. He has been demoted. How could this be?"

Meanwhile, the Obama camp continues to flog Penn. Obama himself said in an Indiana press conference that he would have gotten rid of Penn if he'd been his aide, and the Obama-backing union coalition Change to Win has launched an effort to get Hillary to "sever all ties" with Penn.