Democrats For Private Equity Firms

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark made the grievous error of telling the truth about private equity firms like Bain Capital which Mitt Romney once ran, and has been on a non-stop apology tour ever since.  His words are already appearing in a Romney ad, despite his taking to TV, Twitter, and YouTube to try and walk back the damage he did to the Obama campaign.  He basically undercut Obama's entire campaign message that he planned to use all summer.

Booker is not alone in appreciating...at least for a few moments on Meet the Press...private equity firms.  Others are speaking out as well (from Morning Jolt):

Shocking News: Some Democrats Seem to Like Wall Street Donors, Aim to Avoid Demonizing Them!

Booker, Harold Ford Jr., Steven Rattner . . . at this rate, we may never see Republicans criticizing Obama in Romney's ads.

Booker is not the only Democrat to question the aggressive, negative portrayal of Romney's work in private equity.  Former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said today he agreed with "the substance" of Booker's comments and "would not have backed out."

"I agree with him, private equity is not a bad thing. Matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances," the Democrat said in a separate appearance on MSNBC earlier in the day.

Former Obama administration economic adviser Steven Rattner made similar comments last week, calling a new Obama campaign TV ad attacking Romney's role in the bankruptcy of a Bain-owned steel company "unfair."  

Obama and his surrogates will continue to try and make the case that Romney did more harm than good (despite creating something like 100,000 jobs while at Bain), but Booker pretty much ended that as a serious campaign issue. He spoke the truth and is now paying the price for it. Leaving the Obama plantation is not permitted.