Don’t cross the Obama administration unless you want to be rubbed out politically. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a rising star in the Democratic Party; Obama demands obeisance to him first.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker is the latest victim of risking his career by telling the truth. Booker recently went public with his criticism of Obama’s attacks on Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital; on Meet the Press he said, “It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity.”
And now, according to the New York Post, Booker is finished:
“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…
“Cory and Barack Obama have never been besties, but that was the final nail. It’s like, ‘You’re dead and done.’ The firing squad is out,” said a Democratic source in contact with both sides.
Booker did not get a chance to repent because of his low profile in the Democrat party. But Obama wasn’t quite so cut-and-dried with someone much bigger: Bill Clinton.
Clinton offended The One when he recently was forced to apologize for asserting that if he were in power he would extend the Bush-era tax cuts, as opposed to Obama, who wants to rescind them for the wealthy. This had followed Clinton’s positive comments regarding Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital:
“I don’t think that we ought to get into the position where we say ‘This is bad work. This is good work.’ The man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.”
Unlike Booker, Clinton was given the chance to apologize, but the message is clear: with Barack Obama, the long knives are always out.
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