In 2003, Obama, then a state senator, appeared on ‘Beyond the Beltway’ and praised Howard Dean.

Obama To Howard Dean: “Congratulations On The Terrific Work You Have Done So Far.” HOST: “Barack Obama is here. He too is an Illinois State Senator. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the US Senate. Barack you have a comment.” OBAMA: “It’s great to talk to you Governor. Congratulations on the terrific work you have done so far.” DEAN: “And congratulations to you. I see a lot of people around with Obama buttons on. I didn’t know who you were until I saw those buttons and asked.” OBAMA: “You know, I like that. I like that. Just to switch gears for a second. You know, you were out front in opposition to Bush’s policies in Iraq and I actually share many of your views. I’m wondering, obviously now that we are in and we have to move forward, how you’re thinking about troop commitments, investments in Iraq, and what kinds of policies you think need to be pursued currently.” (“Beyond The Beltway,” 8/7/03)

Obama: “Well I Like Dean A Lot.” HOST: “Barack Obama, you have not endorsed any candidate and are not likely to do so, but reaction to what you heard?” OBAMA: “Well I like Dean a lot. You know one of the things that I think is striking about where Democrats are right now is there is an enormous hunger for plain speaking Democrats. I think his major advantage as a governor is that he is not subject to some of the equivocation that the Senate candidates who are — the senators who are in the presidential race — seem to be having problems with. He takes a clear stand, he speaks his mind, and I think that resonates very well with Democratic primary voters. Obviously that also means that he’s alienating some potential general election voters, but I think, in the primary, I think that’s a real strength.” (“Beyond The Beltway,” 8/7/03)

Cory Booker Opposed The Obama Campaign’s Attacks On Bain Capital, Calling Them “Nauseating”

Mayor Cory Booker (D-Newark, NJ) Is Uncomfortable With Attacks On Bain Capital. “I have to say from a very personal level I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity. To me, it’s just, we’re getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially, I know, I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this to me, I’m very uncomfortable with.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 5/20/12)

Booker Called The Attacks “Nauseating.” “The attack came after the Obama campaign came under pressure from some of its allies over its frequent criticism of Romney’s background at Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he founded.  Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, an Obama surrogate, said the Obama campaign attacks were ‘nauseating’ during a Sunday appearance on ‘Meet the Press.’ The previous week, former Obama auto czar Steve Rattner, who headed a private-equity firm, also criticized the Obama campaign over the issue.” (Jeremy Herb and Amie Parnes, “President: Bain Capital Jabs Fair Game,” The Hill, 5/21/12)

Booker: “If You Look At The Totality Of Bain Capital’s Record, They’ve Done A Lot To Support Businesses, To Grow Businesses.”  “Mr. Booker uttered his apostasy on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” calling out both Presidential campaigns for what he called a “nauseating” focus on side issues. He deplored attacks on President Obama for his long-ago association with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but he added that “I have to just say, from a very personal level, I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity… . Especially that I know I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses.’” (Editorial, “Cory Booker’s Apostasy,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/21/12)

After His Comments, Booker Was Pressed By The Obama Campaign To Retract His Statement

Booker Admitted He Had “Good Conversations” With The Obama Campaign Before Releasing The YouTube Clarifying His Meet The Press Remarks. “Less than 24 hours after Obama 2012 press secretary Ben La Bolt told CNN that the Obama campaign did not reach out to Cory Booker following his remarks on Meet The Press, the Newark Mayor went on MSNBC to confirm that he had, in fact, had ‘good conversations’ with the Obama campaign before deciding to clarify his remarks in a YouTube video. ‘I certainly did talk with campaign officials, but they didn’t force me to do anything,’ Booker told Rachel Maddow last night. ‘They had good conversations with me, and after having good conversations with them… all of those things made me say, you know what, I need to go on and clarify.’” (Dylan Byers, “Booker: I Had ‘Conversations’ With Campaign,” Politico’s “On Media,” 5/22/12)

Ben LaBolt Said No One From The Campaign Spoke To Booker. “Booker’s admission to Maddow, like his initial criticism of the Obama campaign’s ‘nauseating’ attack ads against Bain Capital, is once again a departure from the official line. Earlier yesterday, CNN host Brooke Baldwin asked La Bolt whether the campaign (or White House) had reached out to Booker, and La Bolt offered the opposite answer. ‘Did anyone from the White House or the Obama 2012 campaign reach out to Booker, make him reel his words in?’ Baldwin asked. ‘We did not,’ LaBolt said. ‘These are his own views in the video.’ Baldwin pressed again: ‘You’re telling me no one within the Obama 2012 campaign in any way reached out to Cory Booker to fix this?’ ‘He released that video of his own volition,’ LaBolt said. ‘We did not ask him to do so. We did not, no.’” (Dylan Byers, “Booker: I Had ‘Conversations’ With Campaign,” Politico’s “On Media,” 5/22/12)

La Bolt Insisted That A DNC Official Spoke To Booker, Not A Campaign Official. “Reached this morning, La Bolt dismissed the idea that his remarks in any way contradicted Booker’s, specifically because no one asked Booker to record a video. La Bolt also said that it was a DNC official — not campaign officials — who spoke to Booker. ‘As Mayor Booker has said, the campaign did not reach out and ask him to record a video,’ La Bolt told me. ‘Campaign officials also had not reached out directly to Mayor Booker yesterday [or Sunday], but he spoke with a DNC official who also did not ask him to record a video.’” (Dylan Byers, “Booker: I Had ‘Conversations’ With Campaign,” Politico’s “On Media,” 5/22/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Booker “Dared To Disagree” With Obama And “The Liberal Orthodoxy Machine Has Been Busy Delivering Retribution.” “Cory Booker may want to hire a food taster. The Newark Mayor, a Democrat, dared to disagree on Sunday with the Obama campaign’s attacks on Bain Capital and the private-equity business, and the liberal orthodoxy machine has been busy delivering retribution.” (Editorial, “Cory Booker’s Apostasy,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/21/12)

FORMER CONGRESSMAN HAROLD FORD JR. (D-TN) DISAGREES WITH OBAMA’S ATTACKS

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Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Said He Would Not Have Backed Off Mayor Booker’s Comments About Private Equity And Called Private Equity A “Good Thing In Many, Many Instances.” FORMER REP. HAROLD FORD JR. (D-TN): “I would not have backed off the comments if I were Mayor Booker. I understand him wanting to make the point that legitimate questions can be raised about whether or not at Bain they made bad decisions about certain -overall, I agree with the substance - the substance of his comments on Meet The Press, I agree with, the core of it, I would not have backed them out. Having said that, I understand as a surrogate for the campaign, you have to have one of your key and most eloquent and most effective surrogates at least clarify or bring some context to his statements. But I agree with him, private equity is not a bad thing. Matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 5/21/12)

OBAMA SURROGATE MAYOR CORY BOOKER SAYS HE’S “VERY UNCOMFORTABLE” WITH OBAMA’S LINE OF ATTACK

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Mayor Cory Booker (D-Newark, NJ): “I have to say from a very personal level I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity. To me, it’s just, we’re getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially, I know, I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this to me, I’m very uncomfortable with.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 5/20/12)

FORMER OBAMA ECON ADVISER STEVEN RATTNER CALLED OBAMA’S AD “UNFAIR”

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Former Obama Economic Adviser Steven Rattner: “I Think The Ad Is Unfair… I Don’t Think There’s Anything Bain Capital Did That They Need To Be Embarrassed About.” “Former Obama administration auto czar Steven Rattner said Monday that the Obama campaign’s renewed attack on Mitt Romney’s time in private equity was ‘unfair.’ ‘I think the ad is unfair.’ Rattner said. ‘Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs.’…’Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to create profits for its investors,’ Rattner said. ‘It did it superbly well, acting within the rules, acting very responsibly,’ Rattner said. ‘This is part of capitalism, this is part of life. I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.’” (Byron Tau, “Ex-Obama Adviser: Latest Anti-Romney Ad Is ‘Unfair’,” Politico , 5/14/12)

Obama’s Decision To Use The Bin Laden Raid In A Campaign Ad Has Ignited Criticism That He Is “Inappropriately Politicizing A Grave Matter Of National Security.” “The Obama campaign’s bin Laden ad, which has stirred a fierce debate, looks to some like a hit below the belt, using a questionable premise to make a political argument that Democrats can be just as tough in dealing with the nation’s enemies as Republicans. Critics, including Huffington Post Media Group Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington, have said President Barack Obama is inappropriately politicizing a grave matter of national security.” (Jon Ward, “Obama’s Bin Laden Ad: Hit Below The Belt Shows Democrats Can Be Tough Too,” The Huffington Post, 4/30/12)

Admiral Mike Mullen Said He Hoped That The Bin Laden Raid Would Not Be “Spun Into Election Politics.” MULLEN: “I do worry a great deal that this time of year that somehow this gets spun into election politics. I can assure you that those individuals who risk their lives - the last thing in the world that they want is to be spun into that. So I’m hoping that that doesn’t happen.” (NBC’S “Rock Center With Brian Williams,” 4/30/12)

The Wall Street Journal Questioned Obama’s Attempt To Turn The Bin Laden Raid “Into A Wedge Issue.” “Is Barack Obama trying to become the most polarizing President since Richard Nixon? That seems unlikely since he’s running for re-election, but his campaign’s latest stunt of turning the killing of Osama bin Laden into a wedge issue has to make you wonder.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Ron Burgundy Campaign,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/30/12)

The Washington Examiner: “With His Chances At A Second Term Increasingly Uncertain,” Obama Has Resorted To “Vulgar Political Boasting” About The Bin Laden Raid. “Sadly, the quiet dignity and restraint of last May gave way to this April’s vulgar political boasting. With his chances at a second term increasingly uncertain, Obama’s campaign has begun hyping the bin Laden raid. The most overt instance is its release of an ad extolling Obama’s decision, with Bill Clinton as narrator and featuring multiple pensive images of the commander in chief.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Boasting Cheapens His Bold Attack On Bin Laden,” The Washington Examiner, 4/30/12)

The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank Called Obama’s Bin Laden Campaign Ad “Sleazy.” “The preezy of the United Steezy is making me queasy. I’m not troubled by President Obama’s slow jam with Jimmy Fallon, who dubbed the commander in chief ‘preezy’ during Obama’s appearance on late-night TV. No, preezy is making me queasy because his nonstop campaigning is looking, well, sleazy — and his ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn’t have killed Osama bin Laden is just the beginning of it.” (Dana Milbank, Op-Ed. “President Obama, Campaigner In Chief,” The Washington Post, 4/20/12)

The Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington Criticized Obama’s Bin Laden Campaign Video As “One Of The Most Despicable Things You Can Do.” “Democrat Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, said the campaign ad went too far. ‘I think it’s one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. All that is perfectly legitimate,’ she said on CBS’ ‘This Morning.’ ‘But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.’” (Steve Peoples, “Romney Says He Would Have Ordered Bin Laden Killed,” The Associated Press, 4/30/12)