Cory Booker went on The Rachel Maddow Show Monday to continue his damage control efforts.
As you've no doubt heard, the Newark mayor went on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday and described as "nauseating" the Obama campaign's attacks on Bain Capital -- the private equity firm Mitt Romney ran -- for its record of laying off workers at the companies it acquired. Booker later tried to walk the comments back, but the Romney campaign and its allies pounced on them in an effort to undermine the Obama camp's attack.
Here's a quick rundown of what Booker said to Rachel:
On whether the Bain attack is really fair game: "When [Romney] says, I'm a job creator, I think that's a characterization of his record that deserves inquiry, and I think the way the president himself is talking about is something I will defend, in fact something I will echo."
On the RNC's effort to exploit Booker's comments by launching an "I Stand With Cory Booker" petition: "Here they are plucking soundbytes out of that interview to manipulate them in a cynical manner, to use them for their own purposes ... I'm very upset that I'm being used by the GOP this way."
On his support for President Obama on the issues: Anybody in the GOP who wants to stand with me, please stand with me. Stand with me for marriage equality, as Barack Obama stands up for. Stand with me for not turning the clock back on women in terms of medical issues, like Barack Obama is standing again. Stand with me on making healthcare more accessible to all. Stand with me for making college more affordable as President Obama is doing."
On his history with Obama: "I've been standing for Barack Obama before most peope were standing for Barack Obama, as one of his earliest supporters in New Jersey, his first major political endorsement."
On whether he was strong-armed into tonight's appearance by the Obama camp: "They have never pressured me to do anything ... I certainly did talk with campaign officials but they didn't force me to do anything. Especially after hearing the president's remarks on this issue, where he was not condemning all of private equity, he was not condemning any particular firms, he was focusing in on a guy who's bragging about his job creation record -- all of those things made me say, you know what, I need to go on and clarify."
On his own mistake of comparing the Obama campaign's attacks on Bain with conservative attacks on Obama over Jeremiah Wright: "Those can't even be equated. The noxious nature of some of the attacks that we've seen on our president, where if you even poll many people in the GOP who still believe he's a secret Muslim and these other things, it's gotten ridiculous. You can't even equate the negativity on the right with what's happening by sectors on the left."
On what he was really trying to say on Meet the Press: "My outrage and really my frustration was about the cynical negative campaigning and manipulating of the truth [on both sides]."
On the GOP's lack of interest in urban issues: "To say I stand with Cory Booker -- I have not seen a Republican national candidate, with maybe the exception of Jack Kemp a long time ago, willing to stand with me in places like Newark, New Jersey, Camden, New Jersey, Paterson -- places that often the GOP seems to want to imagine don't exist."
Of course, none of this is likely to discourage Republicans from gleefully continuing to use Booker's unfortunate remarks as a way to undermine the Obama campaign's attacks on Romney and Bain. In many ways, from Team Obama's point of view, the damage may already have been done.
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Obummer busy turning the whole of America into a Detroit, Oakland, Cleveland hell hole.
leftsux: Bush jr made sure of that before he left office don't you think?
The political smearing on both sides is disgusting. If the Dems or GOPs want to debate an issue, such as Bain, then debate it during a true debate...in the the proper forum. The ads are so one-sided and never tell the whole (true) story. Just a quick sling in the mud again the opponent.
There are huge anti-bullying campaigns in schools across the nation to teach our children about respect for your fellow classmate regardless of whether you are friends. However, what these politicians are doing during these ads is tantamount to bullying and teaches our children that to get ahead, it is not only acceptable but required to poke fun of you adversary. How in any universe is this tolerated and encouraged?
I live near Newark, I am not a Booker fan, but I applaud his message - before the spin was put on it. Only bullies need to demoralize their opponent to make themselves feel better. How refreshing (but utterly a pipe dream) would it be to have a campaign without all of the negative ads.
The difference is there was no Rev Wright ad. Only talk. And when the talk started, Romney stopped it. Romney slings no mud on the REV.
Obama on the other hand is saying Romney lost people jobs three years after he left Bain. If that's ok in your book then look who is biased in the mirror.
The biggest mistake MCCain made was running a campaign with one hand tied behind his back. Not this time When we're done their will be nothing left of Odumbo's second term aspirations but a brown stain on the white house carpet.
leftsux: Who in the hell are we? If you are the kind of person who enjoy's sucking Mitt Romneys short hair's then have at it.
No more dog eating Indonesian Kenyans.
Booker is not being used by anyone. He knowingly and willingly made the statement and now he has to live with it.
Hahaha...as long as we're discussing Booker, we AREN'T discussing the Republican Party hierarchy's betrayal of the Party base, by their support of Mitt Romney, right?
I think everyone is missing the point. Bain is not bragging about making companies profitable. He is bragging about creating jobs. For this reason Obama didn't criticize his ability to generate profit or save companies, but only his claim of job creation.
In other words, average Americans do not care if these companies returned an investment, since none of the 99% made these investments. So bragging about job creation make no sense, other than to manipulate the facts to make return on investments 'appear' as job creation , when in fact job destruction was the M.O. used to save these company's investors. Sure investment return is important and logical, yet to off-hand call it job creation is nothing more than bait and switch.
If this was true, than a bill giving all millionaires a $1,000,000 tax break could also be considered a job creation bill, because eventually these millionaires MIGHT generate jobs with this money.
HINT: Generating profit or providing a return on investment is smart business, but NOT job creation. Much like closing a US factory and reopening in China can improve a company bottom line, yet the opposite of job creation (except in China).
Hmmm...exactly. GM is Main Street; Facebook is Wall Street. GM has 70,000 employees and a market capitalization of around $34 billion. Facebook has 3,000 employees and a market capitalization, based on it's IPO price of over $100 billion.
Capital no longer flows to relatively labor intensive economic sectors...nor was it ever supposed to.
But, the "Catch 22" is that Facebook is essentially an "overhead cost," to the economy, in that it's only "product" is to sell advertising or "prospective buyer lists."
IOW, too much capital is flowing into new technology that reduces labor costs, which creates great short-term profits, but long-term isn't creating the jobs necessary to sustain consumerism. [Globalization is another variation of this theme].
Ultimately...someone, somewhere has to purchase a product and have the money (or credit) to do so. At the scale of a large middle class society, based on mass consumption, that process requires a lot of reasonably well paying jobs. If we can't realign that process...wherein growth = job creation, then capitalism will fail in a democratic society, run by the majority vote.
Poor Cory. He just learned telling the truth without qualifying weasel statements in the liberal firmament is the equivalent of touching a hot stove. Look into your soul Cory. You are a conservative but you are not man enough to own up to it.
When I first discovered a lady named Francis Rice (a Black lady), and investigated the work she puts out on her National Black Republican Association website, I was finally convinced the most important rights we have as American's today, were through the hard work of Conservatives - not from Democrats. The proof is right there if you look. The Democrats who hold power are the most deceptive in our nation, and an appalling deception is that the poor and middle class foot the tax bill in our nation, and that's a complete lie, nothing could be further from the truth - according to the IRS and the Tax Foundation. The real fact is that 98% of tax filers who make $50,000 or less (historically the majority of Democrat Supporters), actually pay no Federal taxes at all - they do, but they get it all back in a refund, and more with child tax credits for those who qualify. This is also true with their State refunds. And if the Democrats were really honest, they'd admit they are the real rich, The richest in America, the original fat cats, and they use the working class as a tool to keep their control. The fact remains that Congress holds the real power in America, and for the last 50 years they have controlled Washington, so let's stop telling lies, and look who really is responsible for the screw ups and the debt we're in. The democrats have held the cards the longest, but they have no integrity, and will admit no wrong doing. When election day comes, it's going to come down to integrity. Obama promised everyone 7 times he's have open debates on Healthcare and look what we really got - Nancy Pelosi yelling at the American people saying, "shut up - you'll know what's in the bill when it passes". Problem is most in congress never even read the bill - to date, including the president and ms Pelosi. Why trust someone who lied 7 times. I'm not going to.
Wow! Booker has his spin move down!
Booker should NOT be surprised when he speaks AGAINST his own party's president and the other party uses it. TEApubican's are SOoo desperate they will use or distort anything that they think works for them. We CAN"T give the keys to the country back to the party that got us in to this mess!
It's one (or two) foolish idea(s)!
Here is Irony in its funniest form. We are fighting about comments, we really need to be fighting for Companies that outsource to other Countries to bring jobs here. I hear companies that say we build in these countries for the people of these countries. Then, where are the plants in the US for the US consumer? I don't care about parties; because they are their own problems. I like people that think. If we are not all working for a better America, we are all falling down on our jobs.
I have a great career and a business. I still work to better my community and work towards helping people that are not as fortunate as I have been blessed to be. Because, unfortunately their are always poor people, some are born into poverty, some are poor due to a medical disaster, poor financial planning or poor education. That does not mean they deserve to be poor. I liked it better when companies thought of the bigger picture; that both people and profits matter. That for us to be consumers, we need to work.
Now, I know people from both parties are going to blast this post, but we need welfare reform; both corporate and public welfare. We need to stop getting psyched out by the Asians and them telling us that we are lazy and unproductive. We need to buy our own products and protect our economy, just like China, India and other countries. We still are more fair about the Global economy, but you can only be fair with people that are fair with you. Now let us concentrate on the good we can do for America and all her citizens. That is a fight I am willing to debate on!!!
It is more profitable to use low labor costs found abroad. True, that's pretty "short-sighted" because you end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg; the American middle class and mass consumption.
However, Wall Street is not known for its long-term planning abilities...and until recently, loose credit made up the difference.
But, you've hit on the division today between small business and Main Street versus Big Business and Wall Street.
It's a global economy...if money can't be made off poor Americans, who have maxed out their credit, maybe it can be made elsewhere, in the huge populations opt the emerging economies.
For both Parties and the American people, how to reconcile Main Street once again with Wall Street is THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE of the 2012 election...that's why neither Party is talking about it.
Mr. Booker is very savvy, well-read, well-educated, Rhodes Scholar. Aside from Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, Mr. Booker is also a politician in his own right. Mr. Booker is smart enough to know that his words are going to be used in some manner or form for some political expedient by some political operative. For him, or anyone else to suggest, that he was taken aback by the use of his words and now claim he's being used by the GOP to further their cause reflects a clear lack of credibility and casts him in a dim light. So, in answer to the "GOP using him" he turns to the left of the left and makes sure the liberal end of the spectrum gets to "use him" as well. Great way to get exposure for a politician.
A couple of points:
-Cory Booker is NOT Barack Obama. He can say and feel what he likes, and I respect him for his beliefs. Doesn't mean he's right. Now the fact that he comes from NJ, a state with a lot of Wall Street types who donate heavily to his campaign may or may not affect what he will say about these folks. But, no matter, he is entitled to his perspective.
-I'm tired of right wingers talking about how much money Obama has spent. Look at the facts. He walked in a quagmire, and we've had to pay for two wars that the Bush administration kept off the books to make their deficit-busting spending seem not-so-bad. Our deficit has increased by about 50% under Obama (not doubled as Romney keeps saying). Obama has not nearly been as bad on the budget as some of his Republican predecessors.
-Romney is NOT a leader. Leaders don't change their stripes every other day. Romney was pro-choice; not anymore. Romney was for universal health care; not anymore. Romney supported Planned Parenthood; not anymore. Romney was OK with letting Detroit die; not anymore. Romney was behind amnesty for illegal immigrants; not anymore. Etc; etc. The man has not core principles. And a man with five able bodied sons who collectivelly have given no service to America; a man who hides his money offshore to avoid paying taxes; a man who was more than OK with shipping American jobs overseas as long as he personally profitted has no business being the leader of this country. He is a joke.
This is for rollsroycenkc, and anyone who doesn't like what I write.
Apparently I pissed you off. Well the truth hurts. To quote you "It is amazing to me how people shoot off their mouths without knowing the facts". Apparently you need to get your facts straight. Obama did not end any wars. The withdrawal from Iraq was planned by Bush not Obama. Look it up. And as for jobs. Obama did not create any jobs, other did. But he takes credit for the creation of jobs.
You gave Obama credit for "killing the #1 terrorist in the world". Now how the hell did he do that sitting on his butt?
I don't "condemn Heath care for all", I condemn free health care for drug addicts, drug pushers, people who want everything for free (lazy people) . I believe our health care system need to be fixed, but providing forcing people to pay for health care is not the answer.
As for trying to call me a bigot or racist, you have proven what you are. Both. No where did I refer to Obama as being black, but you did: "Unless you're rich or a bigot & hate the fact the a BLACK MAN is in charge get the facts!!"
And as for another of your quotes: "it looks like you could benefit from reading some books yourself. try books on basic English and grammar." I think I do pretty good for someone who has had two strokes. Apparently you need the same books since your English and grammar is bad.
You made another comment about the rich making their money "on the backs of those (lazy asses) who have lost their jobs & homes". No where did I call the jobless or homeless lazy. You did. You do know that Obama to receives money from actors and singers who get their money from the poor? You do know that they throw parties for him using the same money, don't you? And you do know that Obama has parties at the expense of tax payers (the poor)? And that he accepts money from his "rich" friends?
If you used your computer to do research, instead of sending letters (emails) trying to accuse someone of being a bigot or a racist. Why don't you research where Obama cut taxes so people can have a "pizza night".
And then research the effects it is having on the elderly.
All Booker has to do is go find a local drug dealer....buy some Cocaine/Blow as Obummer puts it and a little "Weed" and perform Falacio on your Boy! Obummer and all will be forgiven.
Yes! I can be bought!
OR
I once was lost but now I'm found.
I once was lost, but now I'm funded.
I don't know who Booker was trying to impress. He was an absolute ass not to properly inform himself, think through his position and understand the implications of the pronouncements of a significant public figure before engaging his mouth.
Libtard, Odumbo, slaves, thugs.... I wonder, just wonder if you "conservatives" would use the same terminology for a white president and his followers? See how you are SO RACIST you can't even see past your big bigoted nose.... sorry bunch of racist name-calling losers (and you and Mittens will lose)
Take a look in the mirror at your angry, red faces, foaming at the mouth at the "stupidity" of the other side! Do you look a little like Rush Limbaugh, one of the truly most disgusting, drug-addicted, whore-mongering men around... is that what you want to be??
Guess you've forgotten about "Slick Willy!" Or, if you prefer, "B.J. Clinton," or "Waffling Willy," or "Bubba" or "Teflon" or "Stainmaker..."
Or President Bush: "Dubya," "Cowboy," "Monkey Boy," "Shrub," "Chimpy McHitler" to name a few.
Liberal names for the GOP?
Repuppetcons, Nazicons, Rethuglicans
Rethugs, Repugnuts, Repukes
Repigs, RIPigs, Bushbots
Republiturd, Conbots, Conpigs
Conturds, Con apes, Confcktards
Chimpketeers, Yellow-bellied rightwing dork
The drooling right, Chimpenfuhrer, Bushtardation
RePigLickins, Re-pubic-an
scum-sucking, slug-fcking, pusillanimous progeny of a butt-fcked mule.
Freeptards, Boneheads, Thicknecks
Reich Wingers, NeanderNazis, NeoConvicts
Inbreds, ChristoFascists, JeebusFreaks
Rapturists, Dead End Republicans, Weepie Freepies
Fetus worshippers, Little Lord Pissypants, Brownshirts
Frightwing Party
Republiborgs
Insect hive republiminds.
Chimp semen swallowers.
Xtian war monkeys
Torture Inc.
Derogatory names for Abe Lincoln (during his Presidency): "Spot Lincoln," "The Ape," "Illinois Baboon," and his wife "She Wolf."
"Chimp semen swallowers"?? Lol, that's a new one on me! Thanks Timmy...
It's funny you'd find that a derogitory remark, since your kind seem to be all about the semen swallowing.
Do Republicans think this is going to win the election for them?
Does Obama think HE can win, under ANY circumstances? lol
He IS going to win Timmy, ya chimp semen swallower!
Always with the goofy insults. Save them for Romney's inauguration.
Mr. Booker should have thought first rather than speak. I like him as well as Obama but the desperate GOP will do anything under the sun from the birth certificate lies, gossip about aunts & uncles in trouble, being a Community Organizer as a "bad" thing, etc., etc. Desperate people do desperate things. At the same time, I'm glad that Booker attempted to clear up what he meant to say. The GOP are a dirty bunch that duped the nation into WMD myths, mission accomplished statement, Iraq had something to do with 9/11......the lies go on and on. We've become a naive nation that buys into rhetoric by uneducated people who can't even speak our language correctly.
Cory Booker your campaign for Mayor took $535,000.00 from Bane Capital(Romneys Company) , you are not being used, you are just paying the Piper.
this is embarrassing. Booker steps out of line for 20 seconds and his Dem handlers crack the whip. Incredible. Listening to MSNBC Lifetime Channel News Network chide him for days is emetic. As if he may no longer be a trusty pawn because his apology wasn't "enough." I almost feel bad for the guy. Herman was correct. The Dems are a scary lot. It is no wonder they have been motivated by exploitation from the time of the mexican american war, through slavery, modern-day ghettos, impressionable women, union members, et cetera. If you are spineless they have a use for you. For your clothes here's a pretty flower.
No wonder the boob is the mayor of Newark!
A loser leading a city of losers!