Well, Cory Booker is no longer the top Obama supporter to go off message about Bain Capital. Talking about private equity firms, Bill Clinton said in an interview tonight, “I don’t think that we ought to get into the position where we say ‘This is bad work. This is good work.’” And that wasn’t all he had to say on the subject, reports CNN:
Clinton said there was no question Romney was capable of performing the “essential functions of the office.”
“The man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold,” Clinton said.
…
Unlike some fellow Democrats, Clinton acknowledged Romney’s time at Bain Capital formed a “good business career.” He also acknowledged that the nature of private equity meant some companies inevitably fail.
“There is a lot of controversy about that,” Clinton told guest host Harvey Weinstein. “But if you go in and you try to save a failing company, and you and I have friends here who invest in companies, you can invest in a company, run up the debt, loot it, sell all the assets, and force all the people to lose their retirement and fire them.”
The former president continued, “Or you can go into a company, have cutbacks, try to make it more productive with the purpose of saving it. And when you try, like anything else you try, you don’t always succeed.”
But don’t expect to see Clinton beaming on the stage behind Mitt Romney anytime soon: he also made it clear in the interview that he felt Romney should be judged on what he policies he wanted to promote, not his business career.
So … how long until Clinton releases a four minute video walking back his comments?