FOXNews.com: After Obama typo, New Jersey's Booker takes convention stage

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After Obama typo, New Jersey's Booker takes convention stage Sep 4th 2012, 16:05 CHARLOTTE, N.C. –  Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker will step onto the Charlotte stage Tuesday like several Obama supporters of late -- having distracted from the campaign's message, but still invited to speak.  Booker, in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention, ran an ad in a convention directory that read "Re-Elect President Barak Obama," misspelling the president's name.  The goof was lampooned in the New York tabloids and was the latest slip-up for the 43-year-old mayor and rising Democratic star. In May, Booker said on a nationally broadcast news program that the Obama campaign's attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating" and made him "very uncomfortable."  Booker later said he was talking about attacks by Democrats and Republicans.  With his widely viewed typo, Booker joins Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a convention speaker and typically one of Obama's surest message handlers. O'Malley on Sunday said that Americans are not better off than they were four years ago, but has since backtracked.  Asked that question Sunday, he said "no." O'Malley then said in an interview Monday, and on his Twitter page: "We are clearly better off as a country because we're now creating jobs rather than losing them."  Despite these diversions, Booker could play a valuable role Tuesday night -- by helping to rebut the keynote delivered by fellow New Jersey politician, Gov. Chris Christie, at least week's Republican convention.  The speech could also boost what has been rumored to be a possible gubernatorial bid in the Garden State. Though political junkies are drooling over the potential 2013 matchup that would feature one of each party's most dynamic lawmakers and likely garner national attention, Booker says he's not mounting a challenge -- nor using this speech as a soft launch.  Whether Booker, a Yale Law School graduate, will challenge Christie remains unclear. But he recently criticized Republicans as "out of line" with New Jersey voters on such issues as abortion and gay marriage. "I think our party will always be more attractive than the Republican Party, which in New Jersey has been stuck," he told the Newark Star-Ledger.  Despite the miscues, the two-term mayor still maintains superhero status among some constituents -- having saved a women this spring from a house fire and taking it upon himself in 2010 to shovel out a snowbound elderly resident, after learning about the predicament on Twitter.  The anticipation over the Booker speech is similar to that before Christie took the stage -- with political analysts wondering whether he will focus on championing his presidential candidate or spend more time highlighting successes to advance his political career.  Christie indeed began by telling his life story and talking about how he's cut taxes and balanced three straight budgets but closed with powerful endorsement of Mitt Romney and running mate Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, telling the crowd "We need them right now."

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