The Republican Party set up an online petition and a Twitter hashtag on Monday in an attempt to exploit a controversy that arose Sunday surrounding comments by President Barack Obama supporter Corey Booker, the rising star Democratic mayor of Newark, N.J.

Booker on “Meet the Press” criticized the Obama campaign's criticism of former Romney private equity firm Bain Capital in television and Web ads, then backtracked later in the day.

At first, Booker, who appeared in New Hampshire last December, criticized an Obama strategy designed to show that the Romney-led Bain shut down plants and left people jobless. He also criticized anti-Obama forces who are resurrecting the controversy surrounding Obama's one-time pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

“I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity,” Booker said on the program. “If you look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, it - they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. And this to me - I'm very uncomfortable.

“This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides,” he added. “Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright. This stuff has got to stop.”

Later in the day, Booker appeared in a video walking back on the remarks. While decrying “negative campaigning,” he added, “Mitt Romney has made his business record a centerpiece of his campaign. He's talked about himself as a job creator. And therefore it is reasonable - and in fact I encourage it - for the Obama campaign to examine that record and discuss it. I have no problem with that.”

He also says Romney “in many ways, is not being completely honest with his role and his record even while a businessperson, and is shaping it to serve his political interest - and not necessary include all the facts of his time there.”

The Rommey campaign mockingly set up an online petition and Twitter hashtag focused on Booker's original remarks, #IStandWithCory.

Locally, the focus was on Vice President Joe Biden's planned visit to Keene State College on Tuesday.

Biden will apparently continue the same theme that made Booker unhappy.

It said Biden will “draw a contrast with Mitt Romney, who has repeatedly cited business experience as his chief qualification to be President, claiming he would use it to boost the economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit.”

The campaign said Biden will “outline why New Hampshire can't afford the consequences of Romney economics.”

State Republican Party Chairman Wayne MacDonald said, “If Joe Biden is coming back to New Hampshire to continue these 'nauseating' political attacks on job creators and free enterprise, he should reconsider. The Obama campaign's negative tactics are not only frustrating the American people but also angering leaders within his own Democrat Party.”

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said, “Cory Booker was right when he denounced President Obama's negative, dishonest attacks on free enterprise and stood up for Governor Romney's successful career in the private sector.”

Williams accused Obama of running a “deceitful and nasty” campaign.