Steven Rattner, the former Obama administration official who criticized the president’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, clarifies his position in the New York Times:
“On Monday, Mr. Obama struck the right balance, emphasizing that he wasn’t attacking private equity but was questioning Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital credentials to be the job creator in chief. That’s fair, particularly because Mr. Romney himself has been foolishly reweaving history to claim, as recently as last week, that he helped create 100,000 jobs during his time at Bain. In fact, Bain Capital — like other private equity firms — was founded and managed for profit: ideally, huge amounts of gain earned legally and legitimately. Any job creation was a welcome but secondary byproduct.”
“Adding jobs was never Mitt Romney’s private sector agenda, and it’s appropriate to question his ability to do so.”
First Read: “One of the downsides to Republicans and the Romney campaign citing the
Cory Bookers, Steve Rattners, etc. when it comes to Bain Capital is
this: These folks are supporting Obama, not Romney.”
