That's what he gets for having a mind of his own.
After Miscue, Refined Role For Booker By HEATHER HADDON
NEWARK—Since Mayor Cory Booker called attacks on private equity "nauseating," he hasn't appeared once on national television as a surrogate for President Barack Obama. At the Democratic National Convention next month, one of the party's rising stars won't have a headlining speaking role.
Mr. Booker has moved to a mostly off-camera role for the president's campaign after his unscripted remarks on May 20 about ads Mr. Obama was running about Bain Capital, the former company of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
But the Newark mayor also remains a force for Mr. Obama, campaigning for the president in Michigan last week, hosting Democratic fundraisers and helping to draft the party's platform for the convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Mr. Booker said he worried his Bain comments had jeopardized his standing with the party and Mr. Obama, but he has been reassured that isn't the case. The mayor said he sought out Mr. Obama personally at a Plaza Hotel fundraiser he helped organize on June 14.
"I wanted to talk to him about it," Mr. Booker said in an interview. He said the president indicated to him that "it's all small potatoes." The Obama campaign declined to comment on any exchange between Mr. Booker and Mr. Obama.
"The hardest aspect of all this for me was that my words were being used to hurt my friend. That was the most discouraging thing," Mr. Booker said.
"The moment has come and passed," he said. "In terms of the campaign, it's not today's issue."
An Obama campaign spokesman, Ben LaBolt, said: "We appreciate Mayor Booker's efforts to support the president on the campaign trail."
The "Meet the Press" comments were an unusual problem for Mr. Booker, who like Mr. Obama rose to prominence as a gifted orator and leader of a new generation of black politicians.
In answer to a question about whether the Bain ads were "character assassination," Mr. Booker said: "From a very personal level, I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity. We're getting to a ridiculous point in America." Mr. Booker, who has raised campaign funds from financial firms and worked with them on Newark projects, said the ads were "nauseating."
The sound bite set off a firestorm. Mr. Obama was asked to comment at the NATO summit in Chicago the next day. The Republican National Committee created a petition called, "I Stand with Cory."
Mr. Booker received a call from an Obama campaign staffer whom he wouldn't name asking him to clarify his remarks and underscore the campaign's message on Bain, Mr. Booker said.
"It was in no way telling me to do things," Mr. Booker said. "It was more like, 'Help us understand what you were trying to say.'"
Mr. Booker released a nearly four-minute video on May 21 saying Mr. Romney's business record deserved scrutiny. It only helped fan the flames.
"I made the dumb decision to do the hostage video," said Mr. Booker, using the nickname he calls it because he looks like he is doing it against his will. "The whole thing became more myth than fact."
Mr. Obama had tapped Mr. Booker as an important surrogate before the controversy. He campaigned vigorously for the president across the country and is co-chairman of first lady Michelle Obama's antiobesity campaign.
Mr. Booker's Obama campaign role remains a highly public one. While he hasn't done television appearances for the president since May 20, he has been invited to speak at several state Jefferson-Jackson Day dinners—key Democratic Party fundraisers—including two days after the taping.
Last week, he stumped for the president on a three-day tour through Detroit and Flint, Mich. He sat at a round table with small-business owners, made radio appearances and talked to editorial boards before leading a convention platform meeting on Saturday during which Democrats for the first time officially endorsed gay marriage.
Mr. Booker said he never expected a speaking role at the convention and that, as co-chairman of the platform, he has a bigger role than he did in 2008.
"The polite way to say why I didn't have expectations is that I'm an African-American, North Eastern Democrat in a safe state," Mr. Booker said, noting he doesn't help court important constituencies. The keynote speaker is Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio.
It is possible to survive a political gaffe. In the days after the Bain remarks, Democratic Party leaders called Mr. Booker afterward and shared their own verbal embarrassments, including former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Mr. Booker said.
Diana Owen, an associate professor of political science at Georgetown University, said Mr. Booker's comments were a "strategy mistake" that could hurt him with party insiders. But it has done little to damage Mr. Obama, she said.
"At that time in the campaign, it's only political junkies who are paying attention," she said.
Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, said that Mr. Booker's appeal to the Democratic base is too important for the campaign to brush him off over the Bain statements.
"The reality is, he's emerged as one of the go-to guys," she said.
Mr. Booker said he stands by the Bain comments. "I spoke from my heart," he said. "A lot of people felt the same way I did. I expressed myself very emotionally."
He said the episode has made him consider word choice more carefully.
"There are definitely lessons to be learned," Mr. Booker said. But "the reality is, I'll never stop speaking from my heart and speaking passionately."
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