I have to admit I love election season. I watch mostly as a detached observer would during a soap opera or CGI-contrived train wreck. So it was with some amusement when I saw Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker  get his words twisted into a pretzel in his criticism of how the Obama campaign is going after Mitt Romney’s influence in Bain Capital (a la Wall Street circa 1987) and the Romney campaign swooped down like a pack of hungry hawks at an Easter bunny convention.

Now this flub has Booker scrambling, trying to mend fences, build bridges, and clean the slate. He must be exhausted.

“I’m very upset I’m being used by the GOP this way,” Booker said during the Monday interview with Maddow, expressing that he and his staff were particularly angered by the RNC claiming that it stands with him.

“I have not seen a Republican national candidate be willing to stand with me in places like Newark, Camden,” Booker said.

He continued: “People have ignored Newark before, but to exploit it or its mayor — that’s something I’m not going to sit still for.”

Oh, don’t worry Mr. Booker. After the spanking you’re getting, you won’t be sitting AT ALL until November.