If you have a pulse and some eyeballs (perhaps an ear), you are probably aware that Newark mayor Booker sparked a bit of a controversy, perhaps even a kerfuffle, by suggesting that the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s time at Bain are “nauseating”. The implication is of course that Bain is not relevant to the election.
Well let me toss in my .02 and say that it is relevant, and for the following reason.
Mitt Romney has made his time at Bain Capital central to his case for the presidency. Romney is a former governor, but you don’t hear him running on that. Rather, he talks about his success in the private sector. That’s fine if that’s what he wants to run on, but if he does so, then scrutiny of that case is to be expected. Rather than being nauseating, as Booker suggests, it is in fact crucial.
The flip side of this would be Obama folks suggesting that reviewing Obama’s record as POTUS was out of bounds, perhaps suggesting that we should all ignore the unemployment rate. This would be preposterous, as Obama is running on his legacy in office.
Bain matters, because Mitt Romney himself says it should.
520 Chestnut 
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