Booker's big mouth ruins relationship with Obama, Cabinet hopes

NY Post ^ | June 8, 2012 | JOSH MARGOLIN

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It’s bye-bye, Beltway for Cory Booker.

Newark’s mayor, who was gunning for a spot in President Obama’s Cabinet, lost the chance after he shot his mouth off during a blunderingly honest TV appearance last month, sources told The Post.

“He’s dead to us,” one ranking administration official said of the prevailing feelings at the White House and Obama headquarters in Chicago.

Booker had been angling for the housing secretary gig in a second Obama term, according to sources in the administration and close to the mayor.

The job was certainly a possibility, given Booker’s work in New Jersey’s biggest city, according to administration and Democratic Party sources.

Thinking highly of Booker, Obama’s campaign asked him to appear on “Meet the Press” on May 20 to act as a mouthpiece, but he proceeded to eviscerate one of the president’s key campaign themes.

Booker told a national TV audience the president’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at private-equity firm Bain Capital were “nauseating” and made him “very uncomfortable.”

“I have to just say from a very personal level, I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity,” said Booker, a rising Democratic star tapped by the president’s campaign as a “surrogate” speaker for Obama. “If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses.”

Almost immediately, top Obama aides were speed-dialing Booker, insisting he backpedal from his comments before returning to the Garden State. But the mayor wouldn’t do that.

Booker further enraged them by waiting until that night to post an online video that was neither cleared by the campaign nor acceptable to Obama strategists...

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“If Romney needs a Democrat for the Cabinet, Booker might be a good choice. A lot of Presidents have at least one Cabinet secretary from the other party.”

Wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Booker is thinking the same thing...