Cory Booker’s Communications Director Resigns After Nauseating Week

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Anne Torres, the communications director for tweet-happy Newark Mayor Cory Booker, has decided to take "a long vacation" following more than a week of fallout from Booker's comments about "nauseating" negative campaigning. The mayor's star turn on Meet the Press as an Obama surrogate last Sunday resulted in Republicans seizing his comments about Mitt Romney and Bain Capital, which required repentance from Booker in the form of a YouTube video and Twitter apology. PolitickerNJ reports that "her resignation comes amid internal administration strife in the aftermath of Booker's appearance," although Torres unconvincingly insists the timing is coincidental. "It's just time for me to move on," she told the Journal of her resignation, insisting she "can't complain about anything" and has "nothing bad to say" about the mayor, or the strength of his political stomach.

Donald Trump Prefers the Phrase ‘Place of Birth Movement’ Now

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The following conversation was recorded early this morning by a wiretap that Daily Intel has embedded deep inside the whirpool of hair that resides on Donald Trump's head:

High-ranking Romney aide: Listen, Donald, enough with the birther stuff. It's killing us.

Donald Trump: But I ...

High-ranking Romney aide: Donald, no. It's gotta stop. Your support for the birther movement is making us look bad.

Donald Trump: Got it. I won't say anything more about the birther movement.

High-ranking Romney aide: Why did you emphasize the word birther so much just now?

Donald Trump: No reason.

Andrew Cuomo’s Ethics Committee Chair Accused of Acting Unethically

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Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo as the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Ethics in December, is herself under investigation for allegedly pulling government strings for her maid. According to the Post, DiFiore helped her longtime housekeeper get approved for welfare benefits after being denied three times. Yonkers Independence Party chair and "anti-fraud investigator" Dhyalma Vazquez has pushed the probe for nearly a year, telling Social Services excitedly via e-mail, "Okay we got to the bottom of this case. This was a political favor for Janet DiFiore's maid. It is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE," and insisting, "Just because she is the District Attorney does not mean she is above the law!" So now we know who watches the watchmen, at least in Westchester.

Donald Trump’s Birtherism Not a Dealbreaker for Mitt Romney

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LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 02: Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (L) and Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference held by Trump to endorse Romney for president at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas February 2, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Romney came in first in the Florida primary on January 31 and is looking ahead to Nevada's caucus on February 4. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

With Mitt Romney and Donald Trump scheduled to appear together at a fund-raiser in Las Vegas today, the GOP candidate has opted not to ask the reality-TV billionaire to cut it out with the relentless birther stuff. "You know I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney told reporters yesterday. "But I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people."

The Obama campaign, however, isn't going to let a blissfully ignorant shrug be the end of it.

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Long-Term Unemployment Benefits Ending Early in Some Battleground States

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US President Barack Obama speaks at Greensville County High School in Emporia, Virginia, on October 18, 2011 during the second day of his three-day American Jobs Act bus tour to discuss jobs and the economy. The three-day tour through North Carolina and Virginia -- states Obama narrowly won in 2008 -- marks his latest effort to generate support for a $447 billion jobs bill blocked by Republican lawmakers in Washington. The White House has touted the jobs bill as a shot-in-the-arm for the economy and accused Republicans of playing politics by blocking it, as Democrats have vowed to break it down and bring votes on each of its components. AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Ninety-nine weeks of unemployment benefits is but a myth in a growing number of states across the U.S. From January through May, about 409,000 Americans in 27 states lost out on at least a few weeks of extended benefits payments, and many of those individuals live in key battleground states including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Florida. Will these voters make Obama or Romney pay for their lost checks?

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LANSING, MI - MAY 8: Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop at Lansing Community College May 8, 2012 in Lansing, Michigan. Last night former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum gave his endorsement to Gov. Romney in an e-mail sent to supporters. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Veterans Prefer Mitt Romney to President Obama

According to newly released poll from Gallup, Romney has a large lead when it comes to veterans, cow-milking gaffes aside. This is not super surprising, as the group tends to lean conservative, but the numbers are pretty stark: 60 percent of them support Romney for president. Analysts note that 24 percent of adult American men are veterans, and their preference for the Republican candidate accounts for his current lead among men generally.

Rudy Giuliani Had a Little Cory Booker Moment

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No, Rudy Giuliani did not save anyone from a burning building. The former mayor did, however, insult his party's presidential candidate on national television. Rudy's explanation for his past criticism of Mitt Romney, which he gave this morning on CNN's State of the Union, didn't do much to convince viewers that he really believes in his fellow Republican, despite having technically backed him in April (not that he had much of a choice).

"At that point, I was probably comparing his record to my record." »

Meet Mitt Romney’s 69-Year-Old Pipe-Smoking Head Groupie

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WEST DES MOINES, IA - DECEMBER 30: As a light and steady rain falls, Jim Wilson of Buckingham, Virginia, hand out United States flags to supporters before the start of a campaign rally with former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a Hy Vee supermarket December 30, 2011 in West Des Moines, Iowa. Despite cold wind and rain, hundreds of Romney supporters came out to see the candidate just days before the "first in the nation" Iowa Caucuses. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"[He] is frequently profane (cycling through jokes about weight, Viagra and Rogaine), smokes a pipe, carries a fish-skinning knife with a three-inch blade and dons an almost cartoonishly retro wardrobe of knee-high tube socks, bright white sneakers and Magnum, P.I.-era Tom Selleck beige shorts." That's Jim Wilson, profiled in today's New York Times, a near-septuagenarian former insurance salesman from Virginia who's been following the Romney campaign since last summer, driving 40,000 miles in his poster-festooned pickup truck. Mitt, make this man your chief stylist and speechwriter now.

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From the Archives

New York Magazine / Aug. 18, 2008

The Humor Deficit

Why Obama and McCain, funny guys both, are loathe to crack a joke.

By Kurt Andersen
New York Magazine / Apr. 22, 2002

The New Natural

On the rise of a 32-year-old political golden boy running for mayor of Newark—Cory Booker.

By Seth Mnookin
New York Magazine / Jan. 29, 2010

The Anderson File

Inside the campaign of the "viable, but also vulnerable" third-party candidate. Recommended reading for Americans Elect organizers.

By Michael Kramer