Politics

Newark Mayor Cory Booker made some pretty benign statements on Meet The Press yesterday and today it’s the big political story.

After MTP host David Gregory showed a clip of an Obama ad that debuted last week in which steel workers say Bain Capital is responsible for the shutdown of the mill they worked for, Gregory opened the discussion to the roundtable, which included Mayor Booker. Throughout his comments Mayor Booker talks up the accomplishments of President Obama’s administration, the support that his policies have generated, and the need for President Obama to emphasize his positive record.

But he also said he’s not going to “indict” public equity, doesn’t completely bash Bain Capital, and says that the negative campaigning on both sides is “nauseating” to him and now he’s the “surrogate from hell” for the Obama administration.

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Former President George W. Bush has endorsed Mitt Romney. He did so as he was entering an elevator after giving a speech about human rights in Washington D.C. Actually, he did so while the elevator doors were closing and with the words, “I’m for Mitt Romney.” Well all righty then.

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Turning away from same-sex marriage for a minute, both Mitt Romney and President Obama have released videos that discuss jobs, or the lack of them. As the economy continues on the shaky path to recovery, the job market is still a hot-button issue.

Above, we have the latest from Romney, which spotlights three Iowans who have struggled to find work. “A Few of 23 Million” means to show that President Obama’s economic policies have failed, though it makes no mention of the opposition the President’s policies have faced during the course of his first term. Besides jobs, the Republican National Committee says it’ll be focused on the national debt this week.

President Obama’s clip highlights those who lost their steel working jobs in Missouri, after Romney’s Bain Capital took over.

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This evening, we got an email from President Barack Obama with the subject line “Marriage” that starts with:

“Today, I was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer:
I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.”

The email includes a link to the Obama/Biden website, where his stance on same-sex marriage is front and center, along with a fundraising appeal, video from today’s interview, and the entirety of that email message. According to Lawrence O’Donnell, speaking this evening on The Last Word, the Obama campaign raised $1 million in the 90 minutes after the ABC News interview with Robin Roberts aired.

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News broke Tuesday that Richard Grenell had stepped down from his job as national security and foreign policy spokesperson for the Romney campaign only a couple of weeks after the appointment had been announced. The reason: Push back from conservatives because Grenell is openly gay. Now the media is digging a little more deeply into the issue and wondering if Mitt Romney’s campaign also failed to take conservative opposition into account when they hired Grenell.

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Richard Grenell has stepped down as national security and foreign policy spokesperson for the Mitt Romney campaign only a couple of weeks after taking the job. Grenell cited opposition from anti-gay conservatives as the reason for his resignation. Grenell is openly gay.

His statement, from The Washington Post‘s Right Turn blog, is available after the jump. The blog cites coverage in outlets like National Review and Daily Caller as part of the conservative backlash against Grenell’s appointment. Because of the criticism, the Romney campaign kept Grenell from doing his job. He is also a partner as Los Angeles-based Capitol Media Partners.

In his short time with the campaign, Grenell also (rightfully) faced criticism for some of his recent tweets. He wrote that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was  ”starting to look like Madeline Albright” and advised MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow to “take a breath and put on a necklace.” The tweets have since been removed.

*Updated after the jump.

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Newt Gingrich is exiting the Presidential race the same way he entered it: by pre-announcing his announcement about dropping out.

The former House speaker released a video today telling viewers that he will be “suspending” his campaign tomorrow. Very strangely, he characterizes the sharing of this info as “insider, advance notice.” A person sharing information with a special someone usually does so with a whisper in the ear rather than a megaphone online. Moreover, the media has been covering his pending campaign suspension since last Wednesday.

Both Gingrich and Rick Santorum are looking for assurances from Mitt Romney before giving him their endorsement. Santorum would like a guarantee about Romney’s conservative bona fides; Gingrich wants help with the $4.3 million in debt it’s said he’s accumulated and assistance with reputation repair, Fox News says.

[via Mashable]

*Update, 5/2: He’s officially done.

With the general election kicking into high gear, President Obama isn’t just telling jokes. He’s being serious about the accomplishments of his first term and showcasing them in this new video, which features the campaign’s new slogan “Forward.” Thoughts?

Presidential contender Mitt Romney is also debuted a new video. While the President makes no mention of his opponent, Romney’s video focuses squarely on President Obama’s perceived shortcomings from the past four years. The clip also promotes the website ObamaIsntWorking.com, which continues the list and counts down the days until the looooong election season will finally be over. We’ve got that video after the jump.

And Rihanna has a new video. Also after the jump, because it’s Monday and you need to dance. Read more

President Obama addressed the pending student loans increases with a visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and a loan-focused performance of “Slow Jammin’ the News.”

President Obama made a stop at the University of North Carolina yesterday to deliver a speech to a students. The university is also where the show was taped. In his musical appeal to Congress, he asked them to take action to stop rates from doubling July 1. The President has taken up the issue as part of his outreach to younger voters. The UNC stop is one of many he’s making across the country.

You can click here to watch the rest of the interview, but really, all you need is the clip above.

Now that we’re in the finger-pointing stage of the General Services Administration conference scandal, blame has been placed on various members of the GSA leadership (rightly), President Obama (naturally), the matrix (Neo!), Congress (maybe a little), and Sin City itself (??).

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman will not hear it, saying that she doesn’t want her fair city “scapegoat[ed] by Washington insiders who might seek to portray Lady Luck as some siren luring unsuspecting bureaucrats to their fiscal doom.” Nice, L.A. Times.

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