Sadly, the Democrat leaders we have today are decidedly anti free market and capitalism. Most regular folk Democrats I know are not. So, there is a disconnect there. But, every once in awhile, you can find a Democrat leader willing to break from the pack, and show disgust over those that demonize what made this country the most prosperous nation on earth, the free market.

Newark (N.J.) Mayor Cory Booker did this during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Booker went off message big time when he defended Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital. The Obama administration’s main tactic against Romney has been his time at Bain Capital being an evil capitalist, making *gasp* money, and creating jobs. Booker described the negative tone of the campaign as “nauseating”. He went on:

“I have to just say from a very personal level, I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity,” Booker said, referring to the ad which spotlighted the story of a Kansas City steel company that went bankrupt after Bain Capital’s involvement.

“If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses,” he added. “And this, to me, I’m very uncomfortable with.”

Booker tied the choices he faced as mayor to those faced by companies Bain dealt with.

“This is not about what happened at Bain Capital. Heck, I’ve reduced the employees in my city 25 percent because it’s the only way my government would survive.  Call me a job-cutter, if you want,” he said.

Wow. An astonishing display of honesty from the Obama side. I have to say, my respect for Cory Booker, which was high for a Democrat to begin with, just got higher. Now, he did walk it back a bit later with a four-minute follow up video for his social media followers explaining that Romney’s business record was fair game, and that he was simply frustrated by negative campaigning, BUT he didn’t refute any of what he said about Bain doing a lot to support and grow business.

Another Democrat known to be independent, former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr, said he agreed with what Booker said:

Former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said Monday that he would not have walked back New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker’s surprising comments criticizing the Obama campaign for attacking private equity.

“I would not have backed off the comments if I were Mayor Booker,” Ford, a Democrat, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The substance of his comments on ‘Meet the Press,’ I agree with the core of it. I would not have backed them out… private equity’s not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances.”

But the thing with Booker gets even BETTER:

“The last point I’ll make is this kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides,” Mr. Booker continued. “It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright.”

So, in other words, attacking Bain is the same as our side attacking Jeremiah Wright. Ouch. Even better??? The GOP has put up a “I Stand With Cory” website.

Update: The Romney campaign has a video up already.