David Gergen Shocker: Obama Is 'Playing a Very Rough Form of Politics' Counter to What He Promised

A rather shocking thing happened on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Thursday.

Not only did the host and his guests David Gergen and John King claim presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mittt Romney is right that he left Bain Capital prior to any companies it held outsourcing employees, Gergen accused President Obama of "playing a very rough form of politics" counter to what he promised when he ran in 2008 (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: John, when the Romney campaign says he had nothing to do with the company post-1999, is there any reason to doubt that's true? What benefit possibly would they get from not being fully accurate about his dealings there?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When you show those SEC filings, there's the reason to doubt it. And they're going to have to explain that away. That's a government document. It is filed with the United States government.

Here's how they explain it. They say he left in February 1999, that it took almost two years to have the new management team put in place, and that they're required by law until that new team is in place to list Romney as the top guy.

Is there any evidence that he had a hands-on role? No. You heard what Governor Romney said, "The Washington Post," FactCheck.org, our partners at "Fortune" magazine. I today have either spoke or communicated by e-mail with four current or former Bain officials. Three of these four are Democrats. Two of them are active Obama supporters in campaign 2012.

They were all there at the time. They say Mitt Romney left in a hurry in February 1999 to take over the Olympics and he was never involved after that to their knowledge, not in any meetings. Not signing any documents. Not involved in any deals. Again, three of these four are Democrats, and they say what the Obama campaign is saying isn't true.

COOPER: So, David, is this an overreach, overreaction by the Obama campaign trying to fit it into the narrative that they have been running with now over the last couple of days?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It certainly may well be.

I talked today to two of the senior leaders of Bain Capital, people I have known for a long time. They said exactly what John King just reported, that when the request came in from the Olympics for him to come out there, he said, guys, you know, I don't really want to go, but in the end I think I must.

And he left within five to 10 days. It was a real hurry. A lot of the documents that pertain to a number of entities took a while to unwind. They were in no hurry because they didn't think there was anything like this ever coming.

But the critical thing is, what they said, to a person, is after February 1999, he made no calls on behalf of Bain Capital. He made no hiring decisions. He made no investment decisions. And they suggested another way to check this would be to talk to people who invested in the next round of fund-raising -- money raising for Bain Capital about whether they thought he was running things. And they said, if you check with him, you'll find they thought he had left.

So, unlike most of the Obama-loving media, Cooper, Gergen, and King actually addressed the facts in this matter point to the President's campaign being wrong about this issue and Romney being right.

But the surprises didn't end there, for a few minutes later, Gergen actually spoke against the messiah:

GERGEN: The Obama campaign is now playing a very rough form of politics. And is that really what we were promised way back when?

COOPER: Not -- and the answer, clearly, your indication, is not.

GERGEN: I don't think so.

So much for the Hope and Change Gergen and so many of his colleagues not only bought into but also helped sell to the American people.

But don't fret, liberals - I'm sure Gergen will be back on the Obama bandwagon real soon.

(HT Barracuda Brigade via NB reader Dave Smith)

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— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) June 9, 2012