Let me finish tonight with where I began.
Whatever you say about Joe Biden getting ahead on his skis, as the President put it–I’m talking about his speaking from the heart about marriage equality–at least he was saying what the President believed.
This latest Meet the Press mishegoss is in a different league.
Again, I ask, who booked Booker? Who put the mayor of Newark out there on national television to speak for the Obama campaign? Who put a guy out there who totally disagrees with the Obama campaign to speak for the Obama campaign? Who is nutty enough to ask an eloquent defender of Bain Capital to be out there in a campaign focused entirely on attacking Bain Capital?
I am appalled at this. Hear me? You don’t screw up like this in the big leagues.
But I don’t want to let Booker off. He knew exactly what he was doing. By defending Bain, he was going directly to war with the Obama campaign. He was saying that what they were saying was wrong, dead wrong, and they should stop saying it. He was saying that the main message of the President this summer should be buried, placed in a deep hole with dirt thrown over it. Explain to me how a grown man, a political man, could think that he was doing anything else.
Obama’s got a good chance of getting re-elected. A couple more Sundays like yesterday and he won’t. You don’t win elections when the main theme of your campaign is being dumped on by someone people think is on your side. Wait a minute. Cory Booker is on Obama’s side. He’s an official “surrogate,” someone chosen by the Obama people to get out there and speak for the President’s re-election. Then why is he attacking Obama’s re-election campaign? Why is he called a “surrogate” when he’s just walked away from the most effective bit of campaign sabotage of the campaign season so far? If he didn’t mean to do it, then he isn’t paying attention. If he isn’t paying attention, he just did Mitt Romney the biggest favor of the campaign. If he isn’t paying attention, I’m afraid it’s time for someone at the re-election campaign to do just that. Before certifying another “surrogate,” check on where they stand on the main issue of the summer campaign: Bain remains, no matter what Cory Booker says, the name of Romney’s pain.
Chris Matthews Recommended
