I think Cory Booker is presidential. My quip is that he along with the other candidates who participated alongside with him were too busy focusing on Joe Biden instead of Individual 1. No, I don't believe Joe Biden should apologize for his record. In politics just like anything else you work with the tools you have at that time. Booker did indeed implement the same stop and frisk policy in NYC and the Justice Dept intervened. He's not apologizing for that.
Below are issues Booker and the other candidates could've spoken about, but failed to do so thanks to their pettiness:
- Rolling back Obama-era fuel efficiency and environmental protections.
- Appointing judges who don't see Brown v BOE or Roe v Wade as precedents.
-Appointing bootlickers as members of his cabinet.
-Not releasing his finances.
-Not complying with any Congressional subpoenas.
- Obstructing justice as outlined in the Mueller report.
- Being a racist pig.
- Sexually assaulting a myriad of women. (Many have come forward)
- Kidnapping and caging immigrant children from their parents.
- Stealing money from the poor and giving it to the extremely rich in the form of tax cuts.
- Ballooning the deficit.
- Violating the Emoluments Clause.
- Being a national security threat via his friendships with Putin, Bin Salman, and Kim Jun Un.
- Turning the office of the Presidency into a monarchy.
- Taking away health care for all of us with or without pre-existing conditions.
And on and on.
15
Klobuchar/Inslee in 2020.
Amy for America.
6
The reason you can't see through Cory Booker is the same reason that you could not see through Hillary Clinton. You simply accept these people at face value.
Cory Booker's politics, like his movie(Street Fight), like his reality show are all infomercials for Cory Booker. They are a construct. Everything Booker says is contrived, its just that he's gotten very good at it. He's had a lot of practice.
Booker is an unashamed corporate Democrat who uses phony, seemingly progressive stands to keep his corporatism at arm's length from his politics.
I suggest you go to Newark and talk to black people about Cory Booker, many black people, not selected black people about Cory Booker. My guess is you'll find most everyday people know Booker's all front and a weirdo, but admire his tenacity. The guy has been keeping his eye on the prize since he got out of Law School. He wants to President. That's his ontological vocation.
Our job as citizens is make sure that never, ever happens.
21
Why the assumption that he will motivate Black voters? It hasn't happened in the polling to this point. If a conservative made that prediction (that Blacks would automatically vote for a Black candidate), by the way, don't you think progressives would make vitriolic accusations of micro-aggressions or some such nonsense?
4
Too smarmy, phony, corporate for me.
14
Too phoney.
11
Am I the only person who was incensed at his cheap remark about Kool Aid to Biden? I guess he’s too young to remember that about 900 persons, mostly black, died from drinking poisoned Kool Aid in Guyana at the instigation of cult leader Jim Jones.
But Rep. Jackie Spieier, who went to Jonestown with a committee, was shot five times but fortunately survived. Maybe she can brief Corey on how bad his remark was.
12
I'm afraid Booker is just a little too scary for most white people, including liberals. Demographic change is the only hope for the country.
We need more Bokker and less Biden!
Oh, please! With his 14 part plan for gun control, please let him be the anointed Democrat! He'll be easy to beat.
2
Booker and Harris are, as they say in Texas, "All Hat and No Cattle."
12
no
4
"... meritocratic niche candidate Buttigieg ..."
To me as a gay man, that is insulting.
6
Why not Cory Booker? because he is being hosted, feted and supported by New Jersey political boss George Norcross who is currently under investigation by the state of NJ for fraud and mismanagement over New Jersey tax incentives in Camden. (interestingly Norcross is a member of Mar-a-Lago -- he goes wherever his money buys him more power. Beware of Norcross and any of anyone indebted to him.
11
Booker is a showman and African American. That does not fly with a lot of so-called liberal white people.
1
He doesn't support Israel, the only democracy in a bad neighborhood. And don't tell me the pal arabs are not voting. They don't have local elections to even vote at all.
1
About six months from now when Ms Goldberg has promoted then discarded one candidate after another , we’ll finally see a
“ Why not Biden “ article ..... unless she really doesn’t care if Trump is re-elected
The desire for “ Perfect .....unrealistic unpassible agenda “ “ is the enemy of the “ Good ..... common sense progress that will win the swing states “
4
Unfortunately, the democrats, especially Harris and booker, have put “racism” and reparations at the top of their agenda. After 8 years of Obama where racism was again one of his top issues...even though he won twice...I doubt many americans will vote for a person of color candidate this time around. Many, including myself, are sick and tired of “race baiting,”blue lives don’t matter;” Antifa, BLM, al sharpton, reparation, social injustice, open borders, white privilege, safe spaces,etc. let’s just get back to being “Americans” and leave “color” out of the conversation.
13
Would never support him. Big supporter of sleazy Bob Menendez in his federal trial. And his legislative achievements? Getting a post office re-named?
Hard to criticize his legislative record. Its pretty scant.
6
I have studied this election to no end and made hundreds of phone calls to swing state and critical voters. I came to the conclusion months ago that Cory Booker was the democrats absolute best chance in a head to head against Trump. Biden maybe had a sniff, but it is clear after last nights performance that he would not remotely be able to handle Trump in a head to head. Last night he called Cory the future President, said "we can't have 8 more years of Trump" and closed with "go to at Joe30330." He would be 77 years old fighting against the most heavily financed incumbent in the history of politics. He's got 50 years of political baggage that would be attacked to no end. I do not believe a far left politician has a prayer in the swing states, nor does Pete have even a remote chance of winning over those voters.
Cory is much smarter, more sophisticated, articulate and presentable than Trump. He went to Stanford on a football scholarship, got a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford and a Yale Law degree. He was an amazing Mayor, an amazing Senator and worked with both sides of the aisle. To this day he still lives in an impoverished neighborhood with the people of Newark. Getting married would be very helpful, but other than that he is very electable. The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior and we have elected a person of color....not once, but twice! If you don't want Trump to be President...I strongly recommend that you take a hard look at Cory now!
207
@James
Agreed. I've liked him since his emergence on the scene when he was mayor of Newark. He's intelligent and well spoken. Also I think he understands that to move forward you must bring people together and lead by example. Our downfall would be with a leader like him is allowing the dark forces of obstructionism to rule again.
14
@James On paper Booker is fab. But he does not light up voters. Sanders often looks like he slept in his clothes and sounds like the guy whose house you skip on Halloween. But he ignites people.
If we're going to beat Trump it's going to be with someone people feel strongly about--Biden is safety/respect, Sanders is for the little guy, Warren will make corporations follow the rules and pay their fair share, etc.
Those are intellectual summaries but they connect to strong feelings that maje people feel good.
50
@James
Agree Very impressive, smart and not a septuagenarian.
10
Fine analysis, Ms Goldberg.
But it ignores one fundamental truth. America is simply not ready for another Black president, and in the present climate will not tolerate one.
Despite Mr Booker's excellent qualifications, it is unlikely that whoever emerges candidate will pick him as a running mate.
The same is even truer of Kamala Harris. She is a woman, and she is Black.
" the meritocratic niche candidate Buttigieg" ... I'm sorry; what? What niche is that? The pragmatic health reform niche? The decency niche? The Went On Fox News, Called Out Their Xenophobic Commenters And Got A Standing Ovation niche? Come on.
16
It's great that someone is pointing out the strengths of one of the many underdogs. Several of the other candidates deserve similar treatment (Inslee, Gillibrand, Castro, O'Roarke, Bennett). Others don't (Williamson, Ryan, Delaney, DeBlasio, etc) and should drop out to simplify matters. Hopefully the winnowing will start soon.
No matter what you think of the minor differences in their policies and major differences in "electability and the public perception of moderates and independents", does anybody really think any of the candidates will change the minds of people who are going to vote for a pathologic liar, fraud, incompetent, and corrupt cheater? I left out racist xenophobic, cruel misogynist.
My hope is that whoever emerges from this contest will have the guts to stand up to the incumbent and expose him as the tyrant he is, and win the election by an overwhelming and unequivocal popular and electoral majority.
1
Cory Booker will catch on when open borders and health insurance for all foreign nationals within our country catches on. Don't hold your breath.
9
He looks good getting off the team bus, but not much to show on the field. His greatest accomplishment in Newark was that he was the first mayor not to be indicted since the early 1960s.
5
Why not Cory Booker? Hmm...maybe because 14 of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies are located in New Jersey?
6
Why?
Booker: "you ...used that tough-on-crime phony rhetoric that got a lot of people elected but destroyed communities like mine"
Hmmm, whose communities? Booker, a son of two healthy IBM execs, grew up in Harington Park NY where poverty rate hovers around 0%. The percentage of African Americans is ~0.5%. There is no crime. In fact, Booker was the most privileged candidate on that stage.... his pandering is nothing if not outrageous.
17
Excellent!
I could vote for this guy with glee, I could also vote for EW. BS,
Kirsten Gillibrand, with glee. The opportunity here is to get one of these elected and have that one create a synthesis of administration with the other others.. These persons have hearts. It is this organ which made the United States and which is simply not present in those channeling a dark psychic force.
1
michelle. i have enjoyed almost every article you have written except this one. Booker like many on the stage is an opportunist and a narcissist. He makes everything about him. you can see it in his smirk when he scores a point in a debate for some glib rehearsed line. You can see it in the way he acts in senate hearings. He is all ego unlike obama and a few other candidates now.
As a nj resident i have been happy with him as a senator. if he wins the nomination i would vote for him over the travesty in the white house now. But my hope is booker, gilibrand, and deblasio go away quickly and get their book deal or whatever those vanity candidates are doing this for.
20
Cory Booker is in the pocket of corporate interests when it comes to education. Taxpayers continue to foot the bill for private corporations to "educate" children when in reality we pay for outrageous salaries, corporate profits, and rent (yes, corporations buy buildings and then rent them to their "non-profit" charter schools). This is a national scandal ignored by the media, including the Times, and we are all being played for suckers. Cory Booker has been bought and paid for by corporate interests, so I'm not interested in him.
8
Well, Booker checks all the PC boxes but won't stand a chance against Trump.
9
Well he seems nice enough, he comes across as being too rehearsed and too theatrical for my taste.
8
My impulse to reject Booker as a wimp was just proven wrong after reading how he saved his neighbors life by rescuing her from her burning home. I missed that one. Perhaps this should be the litmus test for all future presidents: "Would they be the type to risk their life and rescue a neighbor from a burning building?" Trump sure wouldn't.
3
Why not Corey Booker? Because he does not support Medicare for All. That's why.
5
"Sure, I understand why he’s viewed with suspicion by large parts of the populist left. In the past he’s reaped financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry...But, as we’re learning, the populist left is not the majority of the Democratic Party."
Why is not wanting big-moneyed interests in politics a "populist" position, and the "reasonable" centrist position is to just be okay with the fact that politicians need the blessings of corporate donors. Wanting money out of politics isn't some crazy left-wing idea. If you like the idea of democracy, whether you're on the right or left, you should support excising corporate influence from our politics. Only then will we have a truly representative government. But until then, we only have kabuki theatre and lip service while our elected officials beg the 0.1% for a sliver of their riches. It's disgusting.
5
Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker in 2020 !
Take our country back from the Wealthy and Big Business !
4
What's wrong with him being a vegan? We have a climate crisis, and to start saving our planet we have to move away from industrial animal for food production!
5
No establishment candidate can beat Donald Trump. Booker put on a good performance, but the public is media savvy enough to see through to the paid performer.
6
There is a strong desire among the anti Trump voters to return to normal. Normal being the state of our politics prior to Trump's neurotic megalomania. Biden is the stable well liked and trusted individual who it is perceived can take us there.
Biden offers a comfort level, a return to sanity that so many now wish for. I think the best ticket would be Biden and Warren or Harris giving the ticket balance with a progressive slant.
Booker offers an uncertainty. Biden offers to many comfort.
2
Cory Booker is not center-left. He is center-right. Taking money from the ultra-rich and corporate policy influencers is not just out of fashion, it ensures his that he will not fight to get money out of politics and he will do as the wealthy establishment wishes. It’s him publicly saying, yes I’m going to fight for all these positions, but only the narrow, weak kind of change that can only get through the heads of the completely out of touch.
7
I have spent the time since the presidential election writing action alerts on legislation. Cory Booker is a stunningly effective Senator. He has written more successful and progressive legislation than ANY of the candidates, hands down. He's articulate and well-informed. I would have no trouble at all voting for him. He has extensive experience at all levels of government.
9
I can't quite put my finger on why I feel this way, but I find - and have always found - that Cory Booker radiates insincerity. I don't get the impression that any issue really moves him, or means more to him than his own vanity and ambition. There is a disconnect between his never-changing grin and the vacant look in his eye that I find deeply unsettling. And though I am no fan of Joe Biden, I thought Booker's Kool-Aid crack in the debate the other night was a nasty, grandstanding shot at an old man that exposed the senator's poor character (as opposed to Biden's inaccuracy). Maybe I'm wrong, but to me Cory Booker is nothing more or less than a Politician, and I can live without another one of those, thank you very much.
19
There was a great article that summed up Booker's football career at Stanford. Out of high school he checked all the boxes: Good size, great athleticism, cerebral, can play multiple positions ... a very highly sought after recruit.
In Stanford aside from a few highlights, he barely saw the playing field. On review of his game tape, the author of the article claimed the problem with his football skills was he just didn't have the quickness and agility needed to elude defenders. He didn't "dash and cut" he "plodded".
It seems that the same can be said on this presidential race. He's superbly qualified, but under the lights, he's just plodding along.
4
A.There are three serious issues with the debates while people are combative and did opposition research on each other easing the job for the President.
1. issues were rarely intelligently discussed. For example the U.S. pays twice on average per capita than other wealthy countries for healthcare with significantly worse results. No mention of how to fix only differing ideas. The Public Option was defeated in the ACA by Filibuster, why won't it happen again.
2. Excessive defense spending 50%+ of the Federal Budget for the last 30 years has done what for the U.S? Why?
3. Fire arm death rates vary 10fold accross states. Yet there in no insight presented as to what to do about U.S. astronomical rate and no will to fix.
B. Policy differences are not stated clearly and are an
afterthought. Rather than detailed statements at the debates in 1 minute bites candidates should have to submit proposals online at a centralized place. Also statements of why they should be supported and relevant experience.
C. One of the preconditions for a democracy, clear and accurate information for voting citizens is poorly met. Its hard to make a good decision when the facts are distorted as they are by the process here.
4
Corey Booker is utterly uninspiring. Couple that with his projection of what feels to me to be a complete lack of sincerity, and you have a candidate struggling down around 3%. He, among a number of other candidates, for the good of the Democratic party and all the US, should just drop out of the race. He has no chance of gaining traction, I think.
13
Why not? Because of his cozy relationship with big pharma. I can't completely blame him, any major politician coming out of NJ needs the blessing of big pharma. But would it be too much to ask to finally have a Democratic nominee who doesn't have moneyed interests? Please? It's not like we don't have options.
14
Why not Elizabeth Warren? She is doing far better in the polls than Booker. She has committed to grassroots fund raising. She has a clear vision of where most of us want to go. She has the PLANS to make the vision into reality. And, she's a thoroughly decent human being who loves and values ALL Americans and ALL those who wish to become Americans.
19
Mr Booker is fine in a debate, my problem with him is his inability to reduce the gun violence while Mayor of Newark, his inability to reduce gun violence as New Jersey's Senator and his claim that he will be able to solve this problem as president.
2
I don't know why Michelle is arguing form over substance.
Warren is the real deal. Booker talks the talk, but will he walk the walk? Rescuing neighbors in distress - impressive though that may be - I am NOT convinced that he will.
At the end of the day, he does make my cut. BUT. My choices to prevail, in this order, are: Warren, Sanders, Yang, Inslee, Booker.
4
Why not Cory Booker? As others have alluded to here, there are too many moments for me when he puts principle above what the moment calls for. His principled, righteous attacks on other presidential hopefuls have really turned me off. He's a good guy doing good work, but when you spend too long on a high horse pushing principled arguments without looking at the bigger picture, that's a deal breaker for me. The bottom line? It's all about perspective, baby.
3
I like Cory Booker--a lot. But he lacks the depth to be President. He's like a beer commercial. Everything looks great and is less filling but really it's a bottle of fizzy water when you get it home and open it up.
I don't know. It isn't tangible and I can't explain it. I just can't shake the feeling he's been engineered.
That said, after Pete Buttigieg, he is my next choice.
No one talks about leadership and what it means to be President as a symbol of this nation. We don't have much of that in this cycle. We have a lot of people who know a great deal about their little niche but have no idea how to lead, engage and unite.
2
Both he and Kamala Harris showboated in the Kavanaugh hearings and did the Democrats no favors there. They looked like they were out for themselves rather than doing their level best to expose Kavanaugh, the Republicans and the White House for what they perpetrated. Neither will get my vote unless they are the only candidate in the presidential race.
7
I am sorry, Booker is a smooth talking corporate democrat who has accepted money from the drug companies, Wall Street, Jared and the rest of the deplorables who are destroying America and democracy. We have had more than enough of people who talk out of both sides of their mouths. He and Ms. Harris are the same coin, say one thing today but past history shows a different politician. Ambition doesn't give you the right to think you should be president,
As a matter of fact I find it insulting that you would promote a failed legislator who has sponsored one crime bill over candidates of substance and there are three or four who would turn this country around in a heartbeat.
Booker is another weak con artist and that I care about the "poor""is tired. If he cared so much why didn't the do something of substance in Newark, he knows enough hedge fund manager who should of invested in housing and jobs.
His best friend is Chris Christie who hates minorities as much as Trump,
Booker had a camera crew following him around being a hero . It was about Oprah a celebrity not the homeless.
His good friend Mark from Facebook who profited from the Russians buying ads sold our election to the Russians. They turned the public schools into charters for a Oprah moment political stunt.
With you asking the question why dont you write about what Mr. Andrew Yang,his warnings about the industrial revolution that most of America is not prepared for.
We want substance not nonsense.
6
Always admired Booker but the debate made me doubt his judgment. His in your face attack on Biden seemed misdirected when Trump has been the madman in the attic. He, Booker, was passionate (a plus on debates) but self-approving in ways that repelled me. He seemed so satisfied with his little unfunny jokes aimed at Biden - there was a recklessness to him that cannot be confused with courage. He needs to season longer before I could consider his candidacy - he was not the grownup in the room.
7
@SY Exactly!
1
Think for a moment. A Democratic President with a Republican Senate headed by McConnell. He will put up barriers to any Democratic President. But think of a black Democratic President, such as Obama. McConnell said publicly that he would not allow Obama to succeed. McConnell will be energized to outdo his usual obstruction with a black President. McConnell, representing KY, is not a native. He was born and raised in semi-rural Alabama. The seeds from his early life there were planted and have grown into his current racial attitude. A black Democrat in the White House can only be successful with a Democrat leading the Senate. That ups the challenge.
4
That is why we must get a Democratic majority in the Senate! If you donate, donate to a Democratic Senate fund. If you volunteer, work for a group that registers voters in the States with winnable Senate races. If you care please do something to demote Mitch McConnell.
4
Yes!!! I've always felt Booker is under-rated. He speaks and acts in moral terms, rather than wonkish stuff. He seems to me like the only candidate who can pull us out of this mess, with his great moral strength. Biden is a dud.
2
As a long time NJ resident and progressive Democrat, hopefully never.
8
"Why not Cory Booker?"
"financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry"
I think you answered your own question.
9
He lacks charisma. A successful candidate has to not only appeal to the head, but also the heart. Plus, his charges against Biden of praising segregationists were so transparently an effort to appeal to the African American vote that it verged on disgusting. I'm not a Biden loyalist per se, but I do think Booker took his comments way out of context and wielded them like a 3 year old with a plastic sword.
6
@Hooper Agreed. The charge against Biden on segregationist comment and his attacks on Biden at the second debate appear phony as an opportunist, like Harris, to me. I will not support any candidate who is not authentic -- because they would put their own interests above all if there is any interest conflict.
5
@Hooper Same can be said for Harris, playing the race card against Biden. Biden is no=t my number 1 but I remember people years ago buying and moving into homes near schools they wanted their children to attend only to have them bused across town, pretty unfair to all those folks.
3
He's now my number one choice for VP - with Warren at the top of the ticket. White and Black, female and male, anti-corporate and willing to work with corporations for a focused goal, policy wonk and happy warrior, secular and religious (drawing on the African American tradition that has carried millions through centuries of struggle), stage presence like a supernova and stage presence like a preacher on a roll, schoolteacher feisty and tight end (football) solid, omnivore (I assume) and vegan... "Ebony and Ivory .... [McCartney and Wonder]"
2
I think Cory Booker has all the makings of a great President. He’s smart, educated, experienced, has good ideas and knows the USA with all its warts inside out. But, and there’s a but, Cory has an unblinking stare that is very off-putting. Sound nutty? Unfortunately, looks and charisma play a big part in electability, consciously or unconsciously. Work on this, Cory!
2
Why not Cory Booker? I don't know where to start. Why not Tulsi Gabbard and I have been asking this question for the past 6 months. Finally she is catching on and voters are looking into her past by Google searching.
Of course Tulsi is quite a bit confused about the rise of Al Qaeda when during the Trump administrations assault on all terrorist organizations, Osama bin Laden's son Humza was sent packing to where ever it is that his father was dropped in the Arabian Sea. Also I wonder whether Tulsi has heard from Ahman al Zawarahi the number 2 man of Al Qaeda. Tulsi is also wrong to say that Trump has perpetuated regime change wars. No madam, Trump is trying to end America's longest war, the one in Afghanistan and to date he has not started any new regime change wars. In addition within few months of becoming president, Trump's generals evicted ISIS from the cradle of civilization which had become the stronghold of ISIS.
By defending Biden and attacking Kamala Harris who attacked Biden, Tulsi has secured a place on the Biden ticket should he be the nominee of the Democratic party. I think the Joe-Tulsi combination of the old and young will be a formidable ticket with some chance.
4
@Girish Kotwal Tulsi Gabbard is sincere and courageous. Booker and Harris are inauthentic and playing race card.
5
Perez will be to blame if we lose. He has set up debates as he or she who “panhandles”/gets the most cash wins? Gross. Listen to the Daily today.
As for Booker and financial ties to big Pharma or WS, nobody in this race is w/o some connection to big money. Don’t count him out because if this folks! It’s about winning, not purity at this point to save our futures.
@Rachel Power
Winning is nice, but it would be nice if the winner happened to be someone who would work for us, "the people", not for those who paid for his/her campaign.
Any guarantee on that?
2
@Rachel Power
re: Big money.
Amy Klobuchar is not taking any PAC, corporate or lobby money.
4
A Kamala/Booker or Warren/Booker ticket would be a dream. Especially the latter.
Here are my thoughts on this, because he come off as phony as the day is long. He stinks of fame seeking insincerity and his talking points are stale. Also, he could never, never, never beat Trump he would be Obama 2.0 for the Republicans another black man to throw racism at and he gets flustered when folks come at him. His career is riddled with publicity stunts and he is willing to engage in mudslinging whenever he sees fit. No thank you says this lifelong Dem!
7
Booker and Warren. Can't decide which would be VP or Pres.
Inslee for EPA Administrator. Gabbard for Sec of Defense. Yang for Treasury Sec. Biden for Sec of State (smiley face). And Bernie-- he replaces McConnell or becomes head of Justice Dept to prosecute Trump and put him in handcuffs and prison in a cell next to Kushner and Junior.
5
Michelle, it's widely known that 82% of Deems have not chosen or are interested in any of the candidates. They ( Deems) are shooting themselves in the foot by all of them raising their hands and saying they support health care for immigrants. And they attack each other. Politics is now show biz & that's trump's game.
1
As represented in readers comments Democrats have learned nothing. This is not a beauty pageant nor a personality contest. It is about character not characteristics. Many of the comments are so inane as to make me nauseous coupled with mounting despair. Here we see people who are deciding who to vote for based on personal characteristics, so depressing! They beat down on Sanders over his voice and his very appropriate anger. They discard others over equally ignorant invalid and preposterous reasoning if you can call it that.
1
I wrote in a comments section about a year ago that Biden-Booker would be a winning ticket. But did anyone listen to me?! He is young and smart, but maybe not edgy enough to punch back against Trump in a debate (or on Twitter). I think Biden has that edge. But if Biden should have health problems down the road, Booker could surely take his place as his VP.
1
Mr. Booker repeatedly made a complete fool of himself during the kangaroo court sessions regarding now-Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Democrats get to ridicule the nomination process by making clowns of themselves but they DON'T get to pretend that it never happened the NEXT time they are asking the public to do something else.
New definition: the phrase, ''That's the other party's talking point'' is translated as, ''I dare not touch that question because it destroys my entire reason for being here''
2
Reparations is the issue that will NOT bring in voters to defeat Trump.
3
And why not ?
He was the best in the last Debate.
But Pete Buttigieg is highly intellectual, sensible the man who could be a great VP candidate
Mr. Booker will still be an effective Senetor for years to ccome.
2
He's winning the debates? False. Sanders and Warren are winning the debates. Obviously.
He's great on paper? That's something you say about an employee you just fired. But as a mater of fact, he's not good on paper, as you actually explain in your piece. He's a milquetoast who works with corporate interests like pharma and then lies about it and even blocks people from being able to get cheaper drugs. You know what most people call that? Unforgivable.
So he has movie star good looks and he's dating Dawson and he once ran into a burning building. This is not a Marvel comic, this is the future of America. And the people have made it clear time and again that their candidates are Sanders and Warren. If you don't like it, consider it retribution for forcing us all to vote Hillary in 2016.
6
Senator Booker is a corporate shill in thrall to cash and his next close up. He hasn't had an unrehearsed or unscripted moment in the past 10 years and everything he does is calculated for votes. His insincere insincerity wore thin a long time ago. Go golf Corey with your Clinton plutocrat foundation buddies.
2
I remember Book4er voting against importation of cheaper drugs from Canada under some half baked excuse that the quality could not be assured.
I think the real reason was he was in the pocket of the US Big Pharma industry. We need patient and people advocates in
DC, industry comes second.
3
Booker’s race based attack on Biden disqualified him for me. If we want to be for equal rights and against racism, ageism, and all the other isms , then tolerating that in a presidential candidate should be off the table.
6
Agree, he looks great on paper. He comes across though as a young bag of wind. He does not seem genuine and this is disrespectful to people. It's also embarrassing to him. That ridiculous line about the Kool-Aid - in a subsequent interview he attributed it to the "hood." Booker was raised in Bergen County New Jersey – a very affluent county. He went to the best schools. His parents were IBM executives. When he was Mayor of Newark, in addition to the story about carrying the woman out of a burning building, there were also other incidents where he was reported to be " heroic." It just felt like PR stunts. He should just be himself.
5
So what's wrong with the "unmarried vegan part"? Seriously, why does being married make a candidate more qualified? Look at all the married jerks leading governments, businesses, churches, universities and colleges, athletic teams and organizations -- need I go on? And his veganism is a strength in light of the fact that raising animals for food is the leading cause of Global Warming and environmental destruction. In 2010, the UN called on the world to eat plant-based diets as the only way to save the environment and end hunger and starvation. Those who claim to fight Global Warming and the Sixth Mass Extinction, into which we have entered and which we caused, and who are not vegan are hypocrites. Cory Booker appears to be the only candidate who gets the connections between animal-based diets, planetary collapse, human illnesses, and the horrible and unnecessary suffering of 3 trillion land and water animals, annually, who are raised and captured to be killed for food, none of which is necessary when a whole-foods plant-based diet is the healthiest and kindest diet for humans, the planet and the animals.
1
Why not Cory, because he is an identity obsessed social engineer like you.
We tried that with Hillary and she handed us the ego maniac demagogue Trump on a silver platter to us.
4
I'm going to give Cory another look after Wednesday's debate because he pivoted away from telling us that all we need is love and can't we just get along. I don't want to hear about singing Kumbaya with intransigent Trumpers. We need someone kick the incumbent out of the people's house. And he demonstrated he could be the guy to do it.
1
As a Marianne Williamson whacky spiritualist myself, a liberal and a feminist, I have been a Cory Booker supporter since the day he announced. Why? Because he ALONE can beat Trump: He is smart, articulate, brave, tall (<--swallow measurement, but there it is), young, black and believe me spirit is supporting him. You don't get to run into burning buildings and emerge carrying a old white lady just as the media shows up without MAJOR ah, support. He too, speaks of collective love meeting the face of 'dark psychic energies' and he does it in way all Americans understand.
Cory is it. Just imagine him on the debate stage with Trump. Our long national nightmare would be over.
1
Why not Cory Booker? 15 minutes in Newark will answer that, particularly when you compare its 50 years of failure with next door Harrison, Jersey City and Hoboken.
Why no mention of the $150,000 state job his political hack brother just got in Trenton after running a charter school into the ground in Memphis?
5
Unfortunately, Ms. Goldberg, Sen. Booker though eloquent and smart is an African American man, America won’t vote for him. Trump has emboldened racism and it’s damaging us!
Corey Booker has everything going for him -- he is black, he is disloyal to his friends and supporters, he is a braggart, he is dishonest about his sexual identity, he has no way of relating to the real problems facing families with children. Clearly the ideal Democrat candidate.
He lost me with the "Sparticus" grandstanding.
4
"Why Not Cory Booker?"
Because Americans will not elect a bachelor.
1
Warren/Yang ticket?
Warren/ Harris?
Warren/ Pete B?
Biden/ Yang?
Biden/ Pete B?
Biden Harris?
@Dart Harris is the worst, manipulated, calculated, no principles, no substance. I would agree with you with Biden/Harris before the first debate, but no more.
4
Are we not supposed to deport anybody?
3
Never.
He ain’t got the chops, period.
By which I mean, guy’s Obama Lite.
And if you think that unlike Booker, Obama is a neolib corporate shill, I doubt you can figure out a can opener.
2
I think much of the Democratic party and their voters are reluctant to endure another 2010 Tea Party racial animus style backlash. Cory's lack of momentum is that simple.
1
Booker's problem, which is very unfair, is that being an African American man, he is compared to Obama and found a bit lacking in that comparison.
Why not Cory Booker? He's not a racist, that's why. Donald Trump has bet the penthouse that America is a racist country, and it will take a racist to beat him. That's not Cory Booker.
While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, Trump secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants.
If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand all this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
Booker comes across as a smirking, calculating Teacher's Pet. If he is their candidate, the Democrats are in big trouble.
4
Warren/ Booker is the winning ticket.
1
I liked Booker until he started placing race card. I'm so tired of his segregation comment to Biden. Please, Booker, don't nitpick a leaf and deliberately ignore the forest. A true leader does not need to rely on race card. All races are equal. I will never support anyone who plays race card with bias. A better world is one that is inclusive but not bias because it is your race. btw, I'm a minority and an independent.
4
Reading the harsh criticisms of Booker makes me think of Obama's point "Circular firing squad." 100% pure candidates usually lose, Booker has the charisma, the story, he's smart and has the ability to thread the needle between left and right and he will make Trump look like a baboon and smile while doing. Wonky arguments with grim faces like Hilary's lose all the time
1
Ms Goldberg you are barking up the wrong tree. He might get picked for VP, but that's it. His record in Newark is not that great. Most of the progress & reforms were started by Sharpe James, which is very ironic. Yes he's saved people by running into a burning buildings, twice I think. But he has taken plenty money from Big Phama and now talks about going after them. And his whole crime bill attack on Biden is kind of self serving. He knows many Black leaders demanded something be done at that time about the crime & the crack epidemic. And the fact is that bill did more good than bad. Plus Booker just doesn't have that thing, the juice, to be President. .. If Warren is the nominee she may pick him to help with the minority vote.
1
I love the color-blindedness of Democrats, but unless they control all three executive branches, we're looking at Obama 2.0 all over again. Policies are meaningless when the GOP prioritizes it's fears over everything and the mere presence of an African-American freaks them out. It is too bad because Booker is exceptionally well-qualified
1
Been following Booker for some years, feeling he had the potential to be an important Dem leader. His performance the past few weeks ginning up a confrontation with Biden -- cuz he saw it worked for Harris, I guess -- closed the door on that. The stupid Kool-Aid comment turned the lock. "A saying in [his] community..." -- what a phony.
That vibe must be widespread among non-Twitterized but nominal Dems, thus you get Booker polling at 3% despite the new love of the punditry -- heck, about half his 3% is new punditry love.
2
He was definitely great. And although he sparred very well with Biden, he wasn't all "scoldy" about it, like Harris. She is sharp and tough, but she was off-putting on Wednesday. Booker was forceful but inclusive, very articulate, and his sincerity showed.
Michele - we need to be honest here. Cory is indeed a great candidate and a good man. However, he has come out with his valid idea for reparations - this is a plan that will not resonate with white suburban voters.
My Dream Team is Liz as POTUS and Cory as VEEP. Liz would eat Dishonest Don alive one on one; Her passsion for truth, fairness and honesty will be a 180* turn from the Trump lie factory; Cory will bring out the Obama coalition; DD will aim his race baiting gun at Cory, alienating all but the most hard core racist 37%; Cory would also eat Preacher Pence alive in a debate.
These are exciting and scary times in the Democratic Party - we can see our future, but are tempted to dip into our past to rid our Nation of the Bacterial Infection that is Trumpism.
I just hope that Joe and Bernie can gracefully step aside and let the future of our party and our nation take over.
1
Why not? Because his policies are absurd, that's why. Focus on illegal transgender migrants/ Focus on releasing horrific drug gang runners who killed people?
Good priorities. New Jersey is the Garden State. Two overgrown weeds for Senators.
Let's find someone practical, thoughtful and working across divides who knows how to get the right things done.
2
Cory Booker is a preacher and a wide-eyed scold who talks with the claymation bombast of someone who can't believe he has to set the listener straight with the obvious truth - again. He skims the surface of issues like a Jesus bug. Of course Indivisibles like him. Of course a poll of activists thought he "won" the debate as if they were watching the Lightning Round of a game show. I'm just surprised the usually spot-on observer, Michelle Goldberg, has reduced her column to a "Why not?" piece. When you have to ask that question in the title, then, you know something mushy this way comes. She did not disappoint. The good Booker qualities she points to, like his "criminal justice record" or his "skillful performance" on a debate stage were always in comparison to a perceived weakness in a particular opponent. Are we grading on a curve now? (I wonder how the palpitating Booker would do if four very smart, aggressive, ambitious pols and prosecutors attacked his decades-long record for three hours under pressure of elimination the way a certain other individual did with courtesy - and details.) But Cory Booker is a "social-media superhero" that looks like a "movie star." Well, okay, he's dating one. And when did Mayor Pete ever run into a burning building and carry a woman out over his shoulder in the Mayor of Small Cities Reality Show? Never. So, why not Cory Booker? I think Michelle Goldberg answered her own question for us.
2
Booker is an impressive candidate, and would obviously be a better and more competent President than the current incumbent, but that is damning with faint praise.
I've got a problem with Booker, however. He seems a bit too eager, as if he is playing a role, rather than expressing his true beliefs, and I don't know enough about him to be able to tell the difference.
I think a lot of people are looking for a candidate who is a known quantity, someone who is more reassuring and more moderate in outlook. We're also looking for someone who can win. That narrows it down to Biden -- for now.
2
Keep trying, Ms. Goldberg, you’lI find your candidate eventually. I know how much you detest the front runner, Joe Biden (is it his age? that he can legitimately invoke Obama and his opponents can’t?). Sen. Booker won’t win the nomination, despite being an otherwise interesting politician, if, in my opinion, not altogether someone I’d trust very far. You have at least three possible alternatives to Biden — Warren, who is my choice if we don’t have Biden, Sanders or Harris. Given your hostility to Biden, I suppose one of them is preferable to him?
1
Fine, let him be Biden's running mate and tee him up for 2024.
1
Corey Booker is big Pharma. He’s a corporatist. He is also black which leads people to believe that he must be progressive but he’s not. His record shows that big Pharma has always been able to count on him and they know that they will be able to again when the dust clears. We need to be very careful not to choose our leaders on the basis of their race, gender, sexual preference or any other immutable characteristic. It’s their record and their character that should guide us.
3
Booker has no gravitas. Just look at the Kavanaugh hearings.
Booker acted like a buffoon, his silly "I am Spartacus" moment being the low point. Contrast that with Harris, who acted serious and actually asked tough questions of the justice. Its hard to take him seriously.
3
Hopefully, Booker will become the Dem candidate for President in 2020.
This will all but guarantee our President's reelection in 2020!
Awesome.
So, you take umbrage at "the unmarried vegan part" as if being married will make him a better, what? Man? Human? President?
Please. Marriage isn't necessary anymore and it isn't for everyone and there's nothing wrong with not having or needing to have a romantic partner (which he has) or not putting a ring on it,
Same with being a vegan — what harm can he do to us by eating plants?
Make a case for or against him, but his romantic/sexual life has nothing to do with him being presidential material. Same with being vegan.
1
Any of the top 10 Dems would be an order of magnitude better than Mr. Emoluments:
Mr. Emoluments & his grifters took power illegally & will hold on for as long as possible unconstrained except by the voters. Mueller made clear the threat to American democracy is urgent. Unfortunately Mueller & the Dems in Congress, constrained by the difficulty of enforcing the law against a sitting president, can’t save us. We can not passively hope for justice & accountability. We must commit to bringing accountability in 2020 by sweeping Mr. Emoluments & his grifters from office. An historic Blue Wave that retakes the WH & Congress is our civic & moral responsibility. We must awaken independents, & Dems across the spectrum to vote Blue.
1
Cory Booker is so much weaker as a candidate than Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders that a person with an acute mind like you should know the answer.
He is a good orator. Obama was even better. What did that get us? Not much. An opportunity of making history when he had both houses under control for two years was wasted. He couldn't get Joe Lieberman to stay with the party and vote for the pubic option and therefore making the ACA viable. It is true that Lieberman is one of the eeliest politicians alive and that he was and still is a lobbyist for the insurance industry (and was a part time senator and VP candidate) but still, a Nobel Peace laureate should be able to pull such feats.
Cory Booker is a B-movie actor version of Barack Obama without the depth of intellect that is.
5
THE EXCLAMATOR
The problem with “I am Spartacus” Booker is that he reads as a man too conscious of starring in his own movie to be seen as authentic by many of the Americans he needs to persuade. His over-baked self-involved hyper-frenetic bulgy-eyed melodramatic gushy enthusiasm is as overwrought as that last description of it, and it reads as childish—or rather, as an adult species of childish daydreaming, with the fantasy hero leading his toy soldiers to heroic victories over the Evil Ones over there on the other side of the sandbox. And when he is not in the sandbox he is always trying too hard to be your super-bestest best friend!
He is the exclamation point come to life.
Galahad posing for Destiny.
Superman doing pull-ups in your front door.
He also suffers from being seen as a second Obama (yes that is racist), and Reality TV America always wants a new program.
But he is also intellectually gifted, rhetorically talented, potentially charismatic (when he is not trying to be charismatic), and seemingly honorable in his ambitiousness.
If he could just tone down the exclamating and aim his talents at speaking measurable truths rather heroic excesses, he might leap to the Democratic forefront.
As it stands, things are not looking good.
2
Booker feels fake.
Obama, Warren, crazy arm waving Bernie and old school blundering Biden - they feel authentic. Booker does not. I have the same issue with Buttigieg and O'Rourke. They are performative and it shows. We've had enough performative from T666p to last the rest of our lifetimes.
1
Usually disagree with Goldberg. Agree with her on this though.
I am perplexed by commenters who would knock a candidate for being "ambitious." Seems to me that if you are going to run for President, you bloody well better be ambitious!
1
The big question Dems need to ask is who can stand on the stage with Trump and move the needle on the undecided voters their direction. While I might not like the fact that the person who can do that took money from Wall Street or could be called (inaccurately) a “Socialist”, that matters less to me than moving the needle.
The second big question is, if your dream candidate is not the pick of Democrats as a whole, are you going to stay home and not help the one picked? If the answer is “yes” for too many, enjoy another four years of one of the worst presidents ever.
The issue America faces is existential, do we continue to survive (pick your issue to fear; climate change, income inequality, racial divisions, hatred of McDonald’s Fish Filets, whatever) as a democratic republic, or not? Letting Trump off easy is not an acceptable choice. We all must work hard to avoid another four years.
I believe that Booker, were he in the debate with Trump, could move the needle in the correct direction. For that reason alone, he deserves serious consideration. I admit, I would rather see him in a debate with Pence, but he is one of the few Democratic candidates who is capable of moving the needle.
[Warren/Booker 2020... oh yeah... brains and heart!]
The class I really want to see step it up this election is the pundit class.
Can we please stop talking about the beauty pageant? Or the horse race? Can you pundits who are chosen to ask questions at the debates pose some questions that might have relevance for the Nation?
Can you stop with the gotchas and realize that the Nation is in real peril and that your jobs and your profession are in real peril. The current so called man squatting in our House would put you in prison. Or send you back where you came from.
That is the prize you people must keep your eyes on. Not the ratings; but our democracy.
1
Why not???
Have you ever stopped in Newark?
Taken the “wrong exit” on your way to the airport?
He was in charge there for 8 years. What a failure.
2
Cory Booker won my admiration when during a storm he ran out to save a dog that was in danger. He did not ask others to do it. Now that is a man you can believe in! I have no idea why his charisma has not swept over the Dems. Why they hold on to coronating older members of the party is beyond me. We need the energy that propels the candidate out into the storms to rescue us.
1
Sorry, he will never catch on. Too contrived, to fake.
3
Tusi Gabbard is going to have momentum, possible VP on the ticket
1
Almost every comment here is about how the candidate’s personality “comes across “ ... it’s the old thing would you like to drink a beer with him/her. This is how you choose a friend not how you should choose a lawyer or a doctor.....when you are in trouble choose someone with talent who can think outside the box and experience and most of all, Judgment.
Not “authentic “? “showboating “? These judgments from people who don’t know the candidates really depress me. This is the level of analysis of Trump voters .
1
I love Obama - anyone like Obama has my vote.
"He looks like a movie star" — Really? To whom? What does that look like? And we should care?
4
Cory Booker is nice fellow, but he is not a strong fighter for progressives believe; he would not bring along progressives to help him win.
Important to remember: Progressives may not be a majority in the Democratic Party, but as various Times and other news reports have shown Dems cannot win without them.
The only true fighter in this race for the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party is Elizabeth Warren.
She understands that you don't improve the well-being of middle- and working-class Americans by running on a platform about what you can't do and shouldn't fight for.
https://tinyurl.com/y5plg3f4 .
1
Can someone please explain the "Kool-Aid" comment. The media gushed that this obviously very rehearsed line was a "slam dunk" moment, and honestly I still have no idea what it means. It came across as juvenile showboating and an attempt to make Biden appear old and lame, and I'm not a Biden supporter (but again, anyone but the Orange Menace). Also I'll add that I'm 37, to give context.
3
Booker did a bad job as mayor of Newark.
3
Why not Cory Booker?
As far as why he is not polling higher?
Because: and this is objective
Nobody, on a national level, cares that he was the Mayor of Newark.
Nobody other than people who live and have a business in New Jersey care about New Jersey, except people who live there because they cannot afford to live in NYC even though they work in NYC, or people who do not live their but own a business there (yup....Trump's golf courses).
His passionate and emotive personality doesn't play well on a national stage. It works for Bernie, yes. Does not work for Cory. And, that Spartacus moment during the Kavanaugh hearings did not help him.
For African Americans, Cory is just not even close to Obama. Even if Cory has an incredibly impressive educational background, has many civil rights credentials and a solid political record as far as winning elections. He's just not Obama.
For bigoted white voters, Cory is black. No votes there.
After watching Obama's efforts to be an effective president be obstructed by the Congress for the last 6 years of his presidency, and not just because he was a Democrat, but because he was "the first African American President," nobody wants to see another impressive, admirable, dedicated, highly qualified and ethical "African American" win the Oval to only be rendered useless by a Senate controlled by a bunch of filthy rich white men.
So, the real question for why he isn't polling better, is "Why Cory Booker?"
1
I guess I am opposed to politicians who just want to hand out money to people for doing nothing but having babies.
1
He can't have a Philly Cheesesteak? Well there goes Pennsylvania. I've always liked him until he started running for President. Which must mean he's got a few idiots giving his advice. They're probably telling him, at this early stage, to not scare the horses. Maybe take a bit more of a risk to be spontaneous. Outside of all those candidate putting up their hands for free health care for illegals (because the GOP ads will continue reminding us), no one's going to remember these debates a year down the road anyway. Take a gamble, maybe you stumble but how you get up again will show who you are.
1
Why not Bernie Sanders? The establishment and especially the NYT just can't say it. As Biden becomes the JEB! of the 2020 campaign, here they go again, putting up one alternative after another. Why not Cory Booker? Well, for one Ms. Goldberg, he is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry. He was instrumental in killing a bi-partisan bill sponsored by Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz (yes, that Cruz, this is not a typo) that would have allowed us to import prescription medications at a fraction of the cost we now pay from Canada. You know, that third world country to our north. Booker's excuse? He was concerned for our welfare and safety. The thousands of dollars he's taken from the pharmaceutical industry of course had nothing to do with his vote. His close association with Betsy DeVos and charter schools is another red flag. After booker fails to gain and traction regardless of being pushed by the establishment, the next candidate polling in the low single digits will be trotted out and, again, fizzle despite favorable press articles and fawning from MSNBC and NYT pundits. Just except it, Bernie Sanders is popular because he espouses policies that are popular with your average American voter who knows he isn't corrupted by special interests. The only interests he is beholden to are the American people.
1
I like booker, and he could go head to head with trump any day.
Short answer.....never.
3
Maybe Liz Warren will chose him to be her Vice President. Sounds good to me.
Not even a choice when you examine what he did to Newark.
2
Winning what debates?
3
i agree. booker should be nearer the top--but i blame the fact that he's not on this "debate as performance" coverage the press is giving. i also, for similar reasons, think amy klobuchar deserves far more attention.
in fact, i'd like to see a booker-klobuchar ticket.
Honestly while I think there are many plusses for Booker, I think you gloss over the catastrophe that was his dealings with school reform in Newark. It wasn't just a case of mishandeling over 100 million dollars, but it was the lack of understanding the importance of engaging the community in solving problems and the complete disregard for what actually might have worked vs. what the VC world wanted to work. Booker was at the center of this experience and showed himself to be brash and foolish - never a good combination.
While I am absolutely going to vote for the D in Nov 2020, I have read "The Prize" which anyone who has enough interest in Booker to write any thing about him should do. You will come away with a very different view of the man. I appreciated his "Grown-Up" stance on Dems beating each other up in the last debate, but it rang hollow knowing his history. He, like Harris, Biden, Sanders, and the others, should take ownership over his mistakes and yet, all of them seem to be incapable of doing so. We can do better.
2
The article makes mention of attracting 200 million for "Newark schools". If examination looks closer it might find that a large percentage ot that money went directly to Booker's llong list of consultants. Zuckerberg, for instance, withdrew his pledge after months of stalling and double talk. This information I learned, was reported on NPR.
4
@Skyelav - I completely agree (and should have read your post before penning my own). If you really want to see inside this sh1tshow you should read "The Prize". Oy.
1
Going into the debates, I liked Booker, especially for his intelligence and his sweet-guy, humanitarian, moral approach to life.
But then in the second debate, Booker was so determined to best Kamala Harris in demeaning and shaming Biden that I felt it was incongruous and not in keeping with his real personality. Harris got away with it because she is the "prosecutor," not the humanitarian.
I am not a Biden fan but will vote for him if he is the Dems' choice. But I don't like to see older people picked on and shamed. There are more diplomatic ways to take on Biden. After all, the Democrats are supposed to be the big-tent party and we can disagree without being disagreeable.
The media prefers we be disagreeable because the media thrives on conflict not harmony.
What I am hoping for in the Democratic presidential candidate is a total contrast to Trump, especially Trump's psychopathy, total lack of empathy, and his inclination to be cruel. I thought maybe Booker was that contrast--now I am not so sure. Maybe a VP slot for Booker.
3
Maybe when he quits being the darling of charter schools and the big bucks billionaires who love them. He is wrong on public education. There are other candidates to consider.
4
Booker is likable & smart, as you suggest. In fact, he reminds me of Obama. I would vote for him if he becomes the Democratic candidate. But supporting another corporatist makes me unhappy - though less unhappy than another 4 years of Trump.
1
let's take a breath and take a vacation from the scrum of twentysomething candidates. september will winnow the field to a dozen or less, and the early primaries will define the starting line. then we will have a little clarity on both the candidate and the potential cabinet and administration.
the continual kvetching and handicapping from leftist commentators is really just a tactic to elevate interest and keep the drama stewing and the donations flowing. the election is fifteen months away. by then many of us will be two birthdays older.
1
@drollere The writers grasp this primary process as an alternative to preaching their next 10 reasons to hate the American President and the voters who elected him.
After that their top item is Flight MH 370 going into a black hole.
@drollere - Excellent use of Yiddish!
Cory Booker is great at presenting himself, but he hasn't done that much of substance. A Booker presidency would be too much about Booker. What I like about Elizabeth Warren is that she wants to be president in order to do things. She doesn't seem to be a great natural politician, but if she's willing to take good advice, and I think she might be, then she shows more signs than any of the other candidates of perhaps becoming a good president for very difficult times.
6
Sadly, I don’t think the country is ready for a non-carnivorous president. Just think of how many campaign stops are likely to be at meat-centered venues. And of course Big Ag would pull out all the stops to defeat him.
On the other hand, Booker’s diet does give him particular credibility on environmental issues.
Booker was interesting to me until he crossed party lines to vote with Republicans against the importation of medicines. He is totally in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry, which has become more and more rapacious, and which we desperately need to regulate and reform.
5
Good column. I'll be voting for the Democratic nominee, whoever it is. Right now the best candidates seem to me to be Warren, Booker, Harris, Klobuchar, Bennett, and Buttigieg.
My preferred candidate would be Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, but he decided not to run. Perhaps he's too sane.
2
I’ll tell you why he doesn’t have more traction in this race. Years ago, when he was mayor of Newark, I was a big fan of Cory Booker. I was a fan of his future. But, at some point, starting around his senate career, I started to pay closer attention to him, listening more to what he had to say, and I found his communication style a bit phony, fake, inauthentic. It really turned me off. He has so much talent. It was a disappointment to see him diminish his talents this way. I would rather support and vote for someone whom I don’t always agree with than someone whom I find inauthentic.
6
I would be all-in for Booker but for his blind spot on charter schools. This model of education undermines the public school system, which is the foundation of democracy. School boards are accountable to all the people, not just parents and teachers. That's my one problem with Booker, and it is fundamental.
3
@abstract668 - As a 25 + year educator I want to caution you on the blanket term "Charter Schools". Yes, there are some major issues, especially with for-profit charters, but each state approves its own "charter" legislation and there by creates their own ecosystem. Maryland (where I live and where my kids go to school) has a very different charter system that other places (better in my opinion). For example in Baltimore (where I live and taught for 20 years) the charter schools are part of the regular school system and accountable to some stricter oversights that many traditional schools.
But I agree that there is much money influencing this industry and Booker has some explaining to do.
2
A lot of his trouble in reaching the top tier is that more media attention is given to Biden, Sanders, and Kamala Harris than to anyone. In my opinion the media coverage had a lot to do with the election of Trump before his "official" and during his campaign. There was hardly any attention given to Democratic contenders other than Sanders and Clinton, who never was able to overcome the public's dislike of her (for whatever reason).
2
One way in which a progressive can be nominated is to total all the votes and give them to one candidate who will then have more votes than Biden.
If they all compete separately the progressive vote will be divided and Biden will win!
Of course, this will mean that several candidates will have to withdraw for the good of the group.
We'll see if it can happen.
1
Booker-Buttigieg is I think my dream ticket. We need great communicators who don't scare off swing voters. And to me, it would fully reflect our values: the best of us, using both our differences and what we have in common to make the country better for everyone. Progress is -properly- incremental, or the backlash is worse. Do you want 4 more years of Donald Trump, or - even if we do eek out a win - President-elect Ted Cruz in 2024? Because that's what happens if we nominate Sen. Warren.
The title of this article and the fact that it needed to be written says everything. Candidates who excite voters don't need a "why not" question affixed to their candidacy.
3
I like Cory, especially since he announced that he had stopped taking big donor, and corporate, money. Booker's challenge is to go beyond Obama, and not get tripped up by the race issue, as did Obama, and to not serve any donors except the grassroots. Although he made mistakes, Obama is still my favorite president of my life.
3
@ChesBay - in what way did Obama get "tripped up" by the race issue? It wasn't Obama that did the tripping, it was white America and the Rs and Fox who were completely tripping. I would love to know what you were thinking about in specific. Thanks!
1
Warren is still my first choice, but Booker is a close second.
Biden will fade gracefully, but he has slowly to realize his time has passed..He needs to throw his support to the best candidate left standing after the next debate and galvanize the party around one candidate in the fight against Trump.
2
Great question Michelle. In my mind Elizabeth and Bernie lead, Mayor Pete is interesting but now I’m giving Cory a closer look.Until this past debate and your column, it’s been easy to gloss over the Happy Warrior as too slick, too groomed, too ready. But now I’m detecting some substance, some passion, an impressive intellect and an ability to be direct without being rude or shrill. The next debate where he will no doubt face “friendly fire” will help determine if he can withstand and respond to being attacked. But it would be delightful and refreshing to have a 2nd intelligent, articulate black man bring compassion and dignity and respect back to the presidency and the ultimate defeat for Trump’s evil empire.
6
Why not Cory Booker? Because his only experience in leading a large organization is that of Newark, NJ. He has been a Senator for 6 years, these are not the qualifications for the hardest job in the world. It would be the equivalent of hiring someone who has only built single family homes to build a skyscraper. I have had quite enough of rookies in the White House, thank you, NO on Mr. Booker.
3
He’s more qualified than Obama as, and FAR more qualified than Trump (not that that says much).
@Bruce1253 - We have had Governors and Senators before. There is no position short of VP that could come close to readying someone for POTUS.
@Jasleen Kaur
And Obama was not qualified. That how we got Trump. Had the Dems been smarter, the winning 2008/2012 tickets would've been Clinton/Obama, with Obama finally experienced enough to run in 2016.
Have just looked at the map of donors published in today’s NYT. It really doesn’t matter what Booker says in a debate. Saunders has a well-established base that has backed him for four years, as does Warren. I don’t think they are going to change to Booker at some magical moment. While he is bright and very likable, his message is not as strong and consistent - and he has “bought the kool-aid of attacking fellow democrats instead of making every argument an argument for his programs and policies, which are not as far-reaching as either Warren’s or Saunders’, or attacking Trump. He and other lesser candidates are all wonderful people who should be helping the party by trying to switch the Senate from GOP to Dem or hold onto the House. We need both bodies to be Democrat to pass a progressive agenda and undo Trump’s destruction.
2
It is a mystery to me too. I was so glad to see Cory step up. This intelligent, capable, civil, balanced man would be so refreshing for our country.
1
There is a big difference between scoring points in a debate and in having a real message. Biden voted for the crime bill when crime was scoring and the murder rate was out of sight. Now the crime rate, except for some areas, is at near all time lows. There is very little good legislation that doesn't have some negative consequences. We are now addressing the negatives in the crime bill. But Booker, in true candidate form, refuses to admit there were positives in the bill and tries to tie the negatives on Biden. I suspect his minority support is low because they can see through this.
4
@Crawford Long Having "some negative consequences" doesn't do justice to the impact of that reaction to crime. It intentionally destroyed Black and Brown families, communities, and life. Binden (and others for different reasons) has had ample opportunity to own their screw ups and have instead decided a forceful justification is easier ("All my friends were doing it", and "I was just going along with the crowd", and "I was just doing my job"). It tells me all I need to know about each of these folks (Booker included - see also Newark Public Schools & 100 million dollars). We have someone in office that is so sure he's never made a mistake despite all evidence to the contrary. It's time for Biden, Harris, Warren, and yes, Booker to put on their big kid panties and own their issues.
I guess I wonder what a President stands for.
Sure they should have policy, and be a good representative of their party.
but I think a general sense of trust, responsibility, manners,
humanity, are needed, but most of all connectivity. if you can't connect well to a fellow Leader as well as the blue, white or whatever collar citizen, then something is wrong.
I don't even live in the States, but Booker seems to be at least on the outside to have what it takes to be a good representative for America.
"n the past he’s reaped financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry."
I would have thought you especially would have got it by now. It's like the mob, once your in, your in it for life. There's no going back. Not to mention the politics of Newark.
2
Like Booker and thought he definitely struck the right note in this week’s debate. Think O’Rourke might be equally good at “summoning an inspiring and unifying civic gospel.” His debate performance was as good in an understated way as Booker’s. Warren, who was my first choice, seems all to happy to go out on a limb that is destined, I hope, to be sawn off (see Tim Egan column today). Harris, my other first choice, seemed a little bit lost. If Michelle Goldberg runs, she has my vote!
It is no mystery to progressives why Booker has failed to gain traction -- he is yet another neoliberal Democrat in the pocket of the corporate donors. The centrist delusion is that only a moderate can win, but they've been losing ground with that tactic for a long time. Obama ran as a progressive offering "hope and change" in 2008 but when he governed like a neoliberal technocrat, Democrats started losing ground: in the 2010 midterms; in 2012 (Obama won but the party lost more ground in Congress and the state legislatures); in the 2014 midterms; and of course in the 2016 debacle, the party's worse overall showing since 1928. Last fall's "wave" saw Democrats control only 18 state legislatures and lose two more Senate seats.
Tacking to the middle worked twenty years ago, but in today's polarized society it is the party that rallies its base and gets them to the polls that wins. It is a lesson the Republicans have learned well. Their principles may be odious, but it is always pretty clear what they stand for. But what do centrist (actually center-right) Democrats stand for? Hand-wringing calls for "civility" and pleas not to go too far too fast? Nothing turns the average voter off faster than such obvious pandering. "The perfect is the enemy of the good" and "The country's not ready for that" are not slogans that are going to turn voters out. Centrist Democrats love to say that they are "resisting" but what they are really doing is suing for terms of surrender.
3
The aggrandizement of the good points and finding excuses for shortcomings make for a biased presentation of a candidate.
8
@Cemal Ekin
Yep.
Anything to distract the readers from the true winners of the debates: Warren and Sanders.
The Times is panicking that Biden is a dangerously leaky boat. That was always known by the paper of record but well-hidden from the voters. It is now hard to cover up the stench so time to find a new front runner. Kamala is too unpredictable, she may even be a social democrat! So, Corey is a handsome and charismatic orator with low content. Perfect!
2
I really have to disagree with Michelle that Booker has been winning the debates. The moderators have been giving Booker, Biden and Harris an unfair advantage in terms of time allotment, so it may appear they are dominating the event. I needed to hear more from Bennett and Inslee who are offering actual solutions.
Booker and Harris, are viewing everything through the prism of race. I am not suggesting that this isn’t important. However, once we get outside that dynamic, I am hearing nothing of substance from either candidate regarding Climate change, international politics, or the dislocation of rural voters. What they offer instead is a parroting of other candidates ideas. Harris proposed a health care plan that was swatted away like a fly, and was a lame attempt at making policy. I also am turned off by the scorched earth policy of ripping into front runners with 50 year old quotes, as if they are a window into the candidates current philosophy. It only serves to diminish everyone.
The debate I would like to see is Warren, Bernie, Ryan, Bennet, Booker, Buttigieg and Inslee.
6
I want to embrace his candidacy but there is something there that just doesn't ring true and i just can't shake it. My gold standard, President Obama could mezmerize by lowering his voice for emphasis. Booker's speeches and demeanor appear and sound engineered, pre-mixed and bottled, only needing a few ounces of "opportunity" to "expand". Sorry my fellow Dems, he's not our savior.
14
@RDSo it is more about performance art than substance?
Thanks for an informative article. I can see where being single would have been a liability in the past but not after this thrice married twice divorced (with maybe a third coming) incumbent we have now. I don't see how being vegan has any impact at all. Being heterosexual, unfortunately, does. I'm not sure how ready middle America is yet to have a first guy married to a guy president.
My reservations about Booker are similar to others commenting here: an Obama clone, with perhaps more willingness to play the race card. But an Obama clone is looking pretty good compared to the alternatives. And, yes, Biden's "electability" advantage is rapidly evaporating.
I'm a proud progressive, but I think the progressive candidates are shooting themselves in the head with proposals like open borders and reparations for slavery. Unfortunately, I think Booker is on board with those too.
5
Neither of my two preferred candidates has broken through yet - Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker. Between the two of them (and with them as a combined ticket!), they check every box of the ideal candidate, both on policy and electability factors. When the Kennedy Family first endorsed Obama, I remember that as the turning point. Knowing that Ted and Caroline Kennedy we’re willing to put their own seal of approval on him seemed, in my hazy memory, to have opened the floodgates of approval and support. Obama also had the most savvy staff. This time around, it remains unclear who has the vision, the backing, and the organization to take them to that finish line.
1
It’s simple, he doesn’t get enough press to inform people beyond their preconceived notions, based upon anecdotal experience. This applies to all low polling candidates. I finished the second debate respecting him more, despite a few misfirings, which were understandable given the pressure cooker format. Those who want only oratorical passion without affect (Buttigieg, although he’d make a good VP) are prone to being swayed by limousine liberal (or conservative) snake oil.
1
@GM Not exactly the press issue. When Booker gained press attention with Biden's segregation comment, that's when he turned me off. I will not support any candidate that plays race card.
2
Because he talks and talks and talks -often without saying anything of real substance. Warren on the other hand is direct, clear, pointed and full of substance.
10
Well meaning, but his record in NJ is odd. He lost me at the Spartacus thing and I think lots of people feel the same way.
13
Booker is fine but, we need a fighter. Taming income inequality will open doors that can make America Great again. Sen. Warren understands this. I stood 20 ft. away and watched her intently at a rally and she exudes sincerity. The woman means what she says even as she understands that not everything she wants will come to fruition. Yet, she will fight for it nevertheless.
11
The last debates were clearly designed to get Harris and Biden to go at it. Ratings, you know. They even admitted before it started who they liked, and voila! That’s who got the questions. These debates have been a disaster.
4
Biden or Booker who has a better chance of defeating Trump if going for another Obama administration. I think Biden in the States that matter in the electoral college
6
I’m from NJ and I have good reason to say - never Booker. Man is a pure opportunist who hasn’t done one thing for Newark or NJ. All talk.
20
@HistoryRhymesReally? Town Council; Mayor; brought in $200,000,000.00 in donations for the Newark Schools; Superhero who actually lives in Newark; rents apartments to people of need; rescues people from burning buildings; has spearheaded criminal justice reform; what exactly do you believe he has not done for his city?
5
@bobbybow Someone ask FB how it's money was? Newark schools are still nothing to brag about. Let's get real.
2
I'm so glad someone wrote this column! I also think Cory Booker would make an incredible president. After four years of the most megolamaniacal president in history, it would be so great to have someone who cares so much about real people that he is willing to run into a burning building to save a fellow citizen.
5
Booker more than any other candidate looks like a winner. He is extraordinarily Obamaesque a great communicator, has a good command of the issues, a solid narrative and is really likable. I also believe his sense of humor and his political skills to thread the needle between left and moderate views can bring the party together. Kamala looked weak, a great prosecutor but not so hot when put on the defensive or on policy and Biden, sadly is not sharp enough to handle the incoming fire. Unlike Trump when Trump makes gaffes Joe a good person will look vulnerable. Trump loves to exploit even the slightest sign of weakness, conversely Corey will look like a superhero as he cuts Trump to shreds and, using humor as he smiles at the same time. The other candidates will look grim and angry and all voters will hear is blah, blah, blah.
6
He's kind of likable, but he's shown an unfortunate talent for getting his entire foot into his mouth.
If he gets the nomination, Trump will label him "Spartacus" after his stupid outburst during the Kavanaugh hearings. He will be mocked unmercifully and made into mincemeat due to that one moment of blabber.
7
@John Carr. Booker was dramatic AND considering Kavanaugh and the court's direction against America, he was right to scream fire! More dramatic was that others didn't scream too. Fortunately, Booker isn't the type to say, I told ya so.
3
@Jon
Nonsense.
He used the Kavanaugh hearings sham solely to highlight himself...at Kavanaugh's expense.
Luckily, the right decision was made despite all the Dems attempts to do otherwise.
1
@Jon
Yeah, but being "right" plus $1.16 will get you a cup of coffee where I eat breakfast...
I think Booker might be my guy now. I was for Warren, but her health plan is provocative and dumb. I saw Booker interviewed tonight -- young, big, tall, strong, loud, brave, brilliant, distinguished, accomplished, unafraid, curious, flexible, modest, energetic and unpretentious. What's not to like? Trump won't try to follow Booker around on stage like he did with Hillary. Trump plays handshake games. Everybody knows that. When Booker meets him on stage for their first debate, he should break Trump's hand. That'll get his attention.
8
Booker keeps talking about his community. Who is his community? Is he running only for that circle of people? What about the rest of the country? He has been doing this for a while and no one has addressed it.
8
@Joyce Agreed. I have the same thought.
1
Why did he mock Biden instead of presenting some good ideas of his own? We have had enough of a president who mocks everybody. It's time to vote for substance not meanness.
15
@Ruth Roded because he is also an opportunist, although not as obvious as Harris. I liked Booker and Harris until they both started playing race card on Biden. Hey, Booker, Harris, please discuss real issues and propose solutions to racial tension.
1
If Booker or any other corporate centrist captures the nomination, I am staying home.
Many of us are done playing the "lesser evil" game.
You people deserve what you get.
7
That is exactly why Trump got elected. Too many people decided to sit out the election, because they didn't see that Trump was worth voting against even if Clinton was the realistic alternative.
To say "you people get what you deserve" is to ignore the fact that you also will be affected. We're all in the same boat. It's no good saying "your half of the boat is sinking".
14
Cory Booker? Keep dreaming. There's a little issue you many have heard about. It's called race. We had a black man in the White House for eight years, and white America has never gotten over that. It might take a quarter century or more for it to heal the wounds.
We have to deal with the reality that a person of color cannot be elected, a woman cannot be elected, and a progressive cannot be elected. None of the candidates who fit this description will even get the nomination.
That leaves Joe Biden as the only one who has a chance of beating Trump, and that's only if disgruntled progressives don't do what they did in 2016, i.e., stay home on Election Day or vote for a third-party candidate.
5
@baldinoc
Putting another person of color in the WH is the best revenge--Republicans will be horrified but might learn their lesson. And it will be a striking and important statement to the rest of the world about who we (the majority of Americans) REALLY are.
Biden will not fare well in the general election. He sounded incoherent at times.
I agree wholeheartedly. And don't forget he was also an athlete (football player for Stanford). He is the most intelligent and concerned candidate. He would be able to excite minority voters, part of the reason Hillary lost. He is similar to Obama in many ways, which is a plus, not a minus. Compare Trump to Obama under any microscope and tell me who was a better President and a better man. My only concern is his race. Trump's election, in large part, was a racist push back by White Americans who could not accept the fact that the nation actually elected a Black President. But now that one glass ceiling has been broken, I am convinced it will be easier for Cory than it was for Obama.
3
@Disillusioned
"And don't forget he was also an athlete (football player for Stanford)."
Who cares? What does that have to do with anything? This country worships at the altar of sports enough as it is. People already pretend that athleticism confers some kind of magical powers. Now we have to pretend that it's a qualification for the presidency??
6
@Disillusioned I'm a minority and he does not excite me at all. He is no Obama. He does not inspire me. btw, Booker plays race card on Biden and that turned me off. I want a leader who truly walks the talks.
4
booker: light on experience. loud talker. bad combo.
we have had more than enough of that one with the current putative in the white house.
9
I have no idea why the author calls Mayor Pete a meritocratic niche candidate or what that is supposed to mean. But just no to Corey Booker. Why? He has no charisma and I don’t feel like he is genuine. He is nothing like Obama—He comes off as annoying, insincere, and unlikable. The only less appealing candidates are the ones whose names we can’t remember and John Delaney. Biden is near the bottom of my list but ahead of Booker. Booker seems phony all the time.
6
He went after Obama? In order to score cheap points against Biden? No way. That’s just political malpractice. I’m not interested.
9
One word, Hollywood, his nickname.
Zuckerberg gave the Newark school system 100 MM. It was frittered away on dozens of consultants and committees who accomplished nothing.
In answer to a question in the first debate, he said he would set up a committee. It gave me the shivers.
10
Why not Cory Booker?
Easy question.
1. Too slick.
2. Too cocky.
3. Pretends to be a populist, but cozies up to Wall Street.
4. Responds to a substantive attack on his Newark policing record with a sound bite. That smacks, more than anything else, of Donald Trump.
5. Booker is smart and attractive, but you can’t fake caring and a good heart.
17
Why not Cory Booker?
Booker is no friend of public education, labor unions, and is a hypocrite on the issues of mass incarceration.
That answer your question?
14
“For voters who want a center-left candidate who can rebuild the coalition that carried Barack Obama to victory, Booker seems a natural choice.”
That’s it.
Too many crazy eyed wonks on that stage.
“His style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism, symbolized by the $200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools, is very much out of fashion.” By “out of fashion” you mean that he supports privatizing public schools to corporate donors, which is reason enough to make this educator look elsewhere for a presidential candidate.
7
to answer michelle goldberg's question - when will booker catch on? - when he drops his mask of emphatic-on-everything and speaks the way a human being speaks, without the overstated facial exclamations, without his programmed changes in tone (swinging between indignant outrage to swooning that love is our salvation) and without his unnecessary self-referential back-patting.
9
Why not Cory Booker? "I am Spartacus" That's why. Republicans would make a laughing stock out of that line.
5
"He's great on paper" but not in real life.
He would be a great choice as an actor playing President on a re-make of The West Wing.
9
I've followed Booker's career from 2003 and I understand his appeal to liberal white voters from a style perspective. Intelligent, well spoken, reasonably attractive. All required criteria as the chosen black token for the job. But, I find it deeply offensive when a liberal white pundit assumes that millions of blacks are a monolithic voting block. You may not be aware of this, but we are not all alike. We, meaning black, brown, tan and every other person of African descent in this country are different, beyond our skin tones. Different classes, different levels of education, different experiences. Cory Booker being black is not enough to win the majority of the black vote. That is an ignorant assumption, but one many white liberals I know seem to have.
13
The "unmarried vegan part" is Booker's most intriguing part.
1
Why not Cory Booker? Because Cory Booker is a phony and a not particularly successful one at that.
He failed to create any substantive change in Newarks public schools with a $100,000,000 gift from Mark Zuckerberg.
He has been in league with one of the most reviled members of Trumps cabinet, Betsy DeVos, as a champion for charter schools.
He takes every opportunity to grandstand.
He is a perfect example of political ambition at its worst.
11
He was mayor of Newark. That is disqualifying. You can't be a mayor of a big city and win the presidency. Name the last president who was mayor of a large city. You can't. The end.
1
Corey Booker has been my choice for President for quite some time. The problem is: he is not the choice of racist America in much the same way that racist America is still not ready for a woman President. We really are an incredibly backward country in so many ways.
1
Why not Booker? Something is wrong there. In last nights debate he couldn’t look at the camera. He looked up and down and away. He closed his eyes. He smiled at the wrong times and inappropriately. He could barely deliver his rehearsed lines. He’s not the one.
6
Booker is okay, has all the essentials mentioned here. Except...sincerity, something that oozed out of Obama. It's an intangible that might prevent him from catching fire.
3
Do you, as a journalist, really have to ask this question? I think the answer is pretty obvious, at least to those of us on the East Coast: his failures and hypocrisy as the Mayor of Newark and his "outreach" to the "other side", which is nothing more than him wanting to have it both ways and keep a foot in both camps, economically and socially. In short, he's a total fraud, Obviously, the American People clearly see that.
5
First let me say my goal for 2020 is to get rid of trump and mcconnell so will vote/support whomever runs against them. Booker just turns me off. To me he comes across as a phony racist playing to the African vote. That remark about the Kool aid was as phony and degrading as it gets.
6
He has no chance in the general. He’s too radically liberal and he suffers from Cummings’ problem, namely, no positive record of improvement to show voters in a lousy municipality. No thanks. The nation doesn’t need NJ politics in DC.
Because he is a corporate democrat, that's why not. Check out his relationships with media companies and drug companies.
7
Booker orchestrated a calculated attack on Biden to raise his profile. He’s an opportunist. We have one of those in the WH now, do we need another?
6
I just get the phony vibe from him. Same for Harris, Gillebrand and O'Rourke. I know that's not a fair or rational way to judge a candidate but when there are so many to choose from, you gotta trust your gut to rule out some of them. I rate as "genuine" Sanders, Warren, Gabbard, Yang and Williamson and borderline-genuine Buttigieg, Biden, Castro and Inslee.
11
Cory Booker lost my respect when he joined senate republicans to kill Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar proposed amendment to allow U.S. consumers to import cheaper medicine from Canada.
At the time of the proposal, Booker had accepted $267K in pharmaceutical contributions. $267K is a low price to sell one's soul and sell out U.S. citizens. Presidential contender Michael Bennet from CO also opposed the amendment.
Within the last few days, Trump decided to move toward allowing citizens to import from Canada. This could have been a winning triumph for the democrats back in 2017, just before Trump took over. Imagine how many people could have benefited, both medically and financially.
https://billmoyers.com/story/reason-booker-big-pharma-dems-no-excuse/
12
Hillary’s biggest mistake was NOT choosing Booker as her running mate. Every time I hear him speak I think about what might have been had she chosen him, and hopefully, what can be a better future with Booker as president!
He seems fake and opportunistic. Not sure what he accomplished for NJ. Weary of all these Dems- too many and they come across as calculating.
5
The President is like an invited guest at your kitchen table for four long years...there is no way I could tolerate Booker’s lectures and showboating for even one evening. He reminds me too much of Comey...something is wrong about him.
3
A better question, Ms. Goldberg, is “Why Cory Booker?”
Or “Whither Cory Booker?” Perhaps.
2
Ms. Goldberg -- you are really missing the mark here -- we all know how you feel about Biden, but please, Cory Booker - a perfectly nice, talented politician who has no, absolutely no chance of beating Donald Trump. I used to love to read your column, but this attack on Biden is tiring and silly and yes, even unfair. Cory Booker has little to offer most Americans, especially moderate Democrats - he's a lot of hot air.
6
Why not? Because I find him disingenuous and frequently full of hot air.
Take how at the last debate (which I don't think he nailed), Booker began by imploring his rivals to bring unity and love, but then, with his trademark canned smile and wide eyes, foisted unlovable jabs at Biden.
Booker's "Kool-Aid" non-sequitur and non-funny canned reply to Biden's was just another example of Booker's hypocrisy. Instead of following his own advice to Biden and simply saying he'd made a mistake for which he was sorry, Booker sidestepped.
In senate hearings, he has consistently fumbled and grandstanded.
As Obama might say, he's likeable enough...but, for me, enough doesn't cut it.
9
He’d be a good running-mate for Elizabeth Warren..
Recall the tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, when Booker claimed with a dramatic flourish:
“This is about the closest I’ll probably have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,”
In so many ways Booker is Quayle redux: "I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
They laughed at Quayle just as they laughed at Booker.
4
Oh my god. Something just occurred to me as I re-watched the part of the debate in which Biden called Booker “president”.
The reason he made that mistake is that he had gotten used to standing next to a black guy younger than he is and calling him president.
That’s a really bad mistake to make, because it shows his age and his attitude. We really have to do better than Biden.
And it’s also bad because Booker and Obama are very different and anyone who confuses them is literally not looking past the surface.
It has been shown that money from Wall Street, Big Pharma and the charter school racket have influenced Booker’s votes. Obama, on the other hand, had the courage to take risky positions like being against the Iraq War on the campaign trail.
People voted for Obama who didn’t agree with all of his positions, but the fact that he wasn’t afraid to take those positions earned their respect.
Obama won twice for one reason: people trusted him.
If voters want to be told comforting lies they vote for Republicans. They turn to Democrats when they realize that the country needs to face hard truths.
Booker is not a bad guy, but at the end of the day he’s a politician who tells a political version of truth filtered through calculation. He’s actually much closer to Biden than he is to Obama. (Julian Castro is the closest this race has to an Obama.)
I don’t dislike Booker. Biden might have been right in calling him a future president. But that future is beyond 2020.
2
Why not Cory Booker? I have not the slightest.
Why the incessant creation of political horse races even in the NYTimes? I have some ideas on that but they are not flattering to the press that's so much needed in these dark political days.
Instead of commenting on TV debates how about in-depth candidate interviews? Many two versions, one presented in comic book form and the other in detail with attention to nuance?
Senator Spartacus strikes me as not being presidential material by a long shot. He really turns me off. Hopefully, Biden will get the nomination. He's the only real moderate of the bunch and doesn't travel on the Dem liberal crazy train like the others. If Biden doesn't run I suppose I'll end up voting for Trump.
1
I've caught on. He's the man.
Booker is far better than Harris. He seems more real and less contrived. And unlike Harris he can relax and laugh.
A better question is why?
6
Why not Booker ? Well, so far Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson are pretty much coming in with fresh future ideas and they are making Booker seem.... well boring.
1
Regardless of the polls showing Biden ahead, Booker is the one to beat Trump. With Warren as vice-president, it's a sure bet!
The guy’s just too intense. Take it down a notch. Smile. Laugh. Enjoy. People would welcome you as a reasonable alternative to the socialist arm of the party.
1
May I say that ROSARIO DAWSON, along with SUSAN SARANDON, was one of the vile people who failed to support Hillary Clinton and who had the effrontery to say that if Trump won it wouldn't be much different than if Clinton did. Now those words, to me, are the most reprehensible slanders and lies that anyone claiming to be a Democrat could ever make, topped only by Ralph Nader making the same claim about Bush beating Gore as one of indifference. Knowing Booker finds Dawson appealing is more than enough reason for me to NEVER donate a dime to him or boost his candidacy one iota.
1
Why not Corry Booker? How about the fact that he's a phoney, show-boating narcissist? ("I am Spartacus!") You might level the show-boating narcissist criticism at our current president, but the hardly makes his Democratic counter-part any more attractive.
3
Why not Booker? Maybe because of a naked ambition packed into an artificial, theatrical candidate. The quiet shouting thing is cringeworthy.
4
"His style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism, symbolized by the $200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools, is very much out of fashion...."
Out of fashion? Way to trivialize the well-thought-out opposition to neoliberal dogma that animates progressives' suspicion of that poser Booker.
3
There's no mystery as to why Booker is not moving up in the polls. He often emits signals of insincerity and self-promotion. His attacks on Biden last night were cut from the same cloth. Seeing that Harris gained traction doing this, Booker decided to join in, even though it damaged another Democrat with little gained but self-promotion for Booker.
5
The problem is that Booker is an insincere fraud and you don’t see it.
6
“Skillful Performance” - yes indeed if you call crass opportunism skillful and if you believe attacking President Obama is skillful. I hope Mr. Booker faces a strong primary challenger next time. He should be ashamed of his performance last night. Along with Harris, Castro, DeBlasio and Gillibrand. All losers.
2
Although I have not settled on anyone, Booker's attacks on Joe Biden have made me wary. It doesn't feel like these attacks are anything if not self-serving. Biden, on balance, has an incredible record as a public servant. It is astonishing to me that nobody is digging into Booker's record as mayor of Newark, and that he jumped ship to run for the senate. It is astonishing that Booker doesn't go after Kamala Harris's less than stellar record as a prosecutor. This is why - he wants to be president at any cost - even to go so far as to diminish the record of one of our finest, most transformational president's - Barack Obama. Of course Biden's record is tied to his 8 years as Obama's VP - and that is a plus for our country. But Booker is looking to trash that golden experience. As I write this I realize I could never support him.
2
Unfortunately, no matter how good Booker is, and what he says, the Democrats are afraid to put up another black man so soon. They are afraid of how Trump will behave and his base will become rapid...the Democrats have neither the guts nor the smarts to deal with either.
Why not Cory Booker? Because we need someone who can do more than winge. Practically every time Booker opens his mouth it's to talk about "feelings." We need action and policy, not therapy-speak.
6
During the financial crisis Booker defended his pals on Wall Street. He’s a “player”, and he comes across as inauthentic. No way he stands a chance.
3
Who appointed Michelle to judge Cory is winning the debates?
If he is winning the debates why are his poll numbers so close to absolute zero?????
5
Booker strikes me as rather similar to Beto O'Rourke - a little too reliant on gosh-heck boyish charm, and a little bit prone to having his rhetorical drives fizzle and fray. Trump would eat him alive.
3
It's refreshing to read a columnist who is not inhaling fantasies that a dream ticket combining a gay mayor with a woman from Harvard would prevail in the Heartlands.
Our mascot is the donkey, not the lemming.
In the debates Cory Booker has been a distinct, strong, grounded presence who does not shrink when the pressure is on, the same as when, as a 6'4" 220 pound tight end at Stanford, he led an undermanned team into Buttigieg's home town and beat Notre Dame, when the Irish were ranked number one in the country.
He made all the tough catches and drew a conclusion afterwards that should be the Democrat's mantra: "They had better athletes, but we were a better team."
It's worth knowing that besides football and school, Booker was spending all nighters manning a crisis line -- and was selected a Rhodes Scholar.
Before the last debate, English bookies had him at 40 to 1 for the nomination.
Booker's chinks include substantial contributions from business and big New Jersey Pharma in the past, but he has cut those off.
Let's remember Obama's lesson on how to turn out black votes.
Turnout, combined with being the better team, are our best bets to end this national nightmare, with Booker and Warren heading it up; Harris as AG, Inslee at Energy...
Mayor Pete, Beto, Castro, Bennett & other worthies to Congress.
2
Living in NJ I can attest that Booker has been a good senator. He just may make a good president. Yet I wonder though can he go the distance? I agree with some of his observations about the inner city. The problems with many of Jerseys cities are mainy. Booker at least did accomplish one thing as mayor. He was the first Newark mayor in 40 years that was not indicted . I think that he should slow down and go back over what was going on when Biden helped passed those "crime" bills. Nothing is ever so {pardon the expression}, black & white. Drugs- selling & using have destroyed Jersey's cities. Suburbanites come in to these places to buy. I am not in agreement that all of the sentences where harsh. Something though needs to be done because sending a 20 year to state prison on a 30 year sentence =a repeat offender. Perhaps someone such as Booker can finally get around to bringing forth an urban plan that will focus on jobs, education and renewal. I am not voting for Trump/Pence. I may have some quibble with the Democratic party but the alternative is unthinkable.
Booker at the very least will restore a level of dignity and respect to the Oval office. I would strongly advise him though if elected he bring at least a few gallons of Lysol to cleanse the Oval office. It will be nice to have a level of professionalism instead of a 24/7 reality show in DC.
Booker/Klobuchar 2020? Warren/Booker or Booker/Warren ? Klobucar/Booker? Why not?
Because he can't beat Trump?
OK, readers, a little thought exercise:
1. Put the following words together to form a sentence.
(a) Cory Booker
(b) burning building
(c) woman trapped inside
2. Now for item (a) insert the name Donald Trump.
1
Why not Cory Booker? Uhm....maybe because he can’t win? Maybe?
1
Michelle, always look forward to you columns, but I was a NJite for many years. Cory Booker is bright, ambitious and might be a great nominee after we dethrone condon. But at what point are we as democrats okay to allow his ambition ruin the chance of ridding the USA of this cancer that is ruining our country. There is a time to put personal ambition aside when you have an existential threat like condon winning again. Do you, Michelle, really think we can take another four years of this hatred just to gratify Cory Booker’s take no prisoner ambition? He’s good but he’s no Obama and cannot win this election. As Democrats, we all need to get real and focus on winning, not taking down Obama or Biden. shame on Cory.
2
Never. He’s anti-science.
2
Booker pandered with an unsupported statement when he claimed “We lost the state of Michigan because everybody from Republicans to Russians were targeting the suppression of African American voters.”
https://wapo.st/2yvmK2v
While I like his energy and many of his ideas, that rant caused him to lose credibility.
1
Why not Cory Booker? Gosh, I wish journalists would do more reporting and less opining. Read The Prize, by Dale Russakoff, to see how Booker “reformed” Newark’s schools with his $100 million Zuckerberg gift. Why not Cory Booker? That’s why.
6
Can Booker win Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania? Biden can. What else matters?
3
The so-called "populist left" is like a Democratic Party version of the "Tea Party." Like the "Tea Party," this group holds unrealistic and foolish positions that are a recipe for political failure. I am very worried that the "populist left" will re-elect Trump, and however bad Trump is now, if he is re-elected he will be so much worse.
Democrats: put the lefty wish list to the side and focus on popular, mainstream ideas. NOW! If you run on eliminating private health insurance, decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings, giving health insurance to undocumented immigrants, and setting up polling booths in prisons, Trump will be re-elected and IT WILL BE YOUR FAULT!!!!
That’s what I said.
Cory tries too hard to please to garner respect or be taken seriously.
2
Uh, news to Ms. Goldberg but IF he were "winning the debates" he WOULD have caught on but he has NOT won anything and therefore has failed to gain traction. Oh, and you mention that he'd increase African-American turnout, unlike Buttigieg. Sorry again but if 100% of the voting Black American population doesn't turn out in 2020 to boot Trump from the White House then I don't know what else to say other than EVERY decent American should turn out to send Trump packing, none more so than Blacks in this country who have ZERO voice in the current Administration. Are you seriously saying that Booker is the catalyst to get out the Black vote? It's almost offensive and racist even to imply that!
2
Any person who thinks that Cory Booker is the more "natural choice" to appeal to the center of the Democratic Party than Joe Biden is someone who is not paying attention and has no business writing a column for the New York Times.
2
He's a phony in the pockets of Big Pharma, Wall Street and the Hillary Martha's Vineyard axis who's spent his entire life promoting himself. Not interested given the option of real public servants such as Sens. Sanders and Warren.
2
He's too histrionic.
1
Stagnant Fear is why Joe Biden is still on top. I too still support him, but, I fear he’s going to stumble even further as the debates continue. He made way too many mistakes Wednesday evening. With all of that said, I think most Americans just want Trump out in 2020 and Joe seems to be their best bet to do that.
Cory is definitely better in almost every category except experience. I like him, and will VOTE for whomever the nominee is for the Democratic Party, but I fear nominating Cory Booker might be a push too far right now for many Americans.
2
My reason for not supporting Sen. Booker is that he comes off like a Disneyland automaton. Not stiff. The word for that would be 'robotic'. Perhaps you identify better with your word 'theatrical'.
These kind of subjective words are a little hard to nail down, but something in him comes off cheerily out of sync with itself.
It's true that theatricality can 'sell', depending. But as you point out, the 'feel' for how a candidate 'comes off' can not be discounted in any evaluation.
Trump's is over the top and most of even his supporters either discount it or are in with his 'professional Wrestling style. (How many fans take it seriously vs enjoy that kind of show is a good question,
President Reagan had a version of that, but he was a professional at it. He could summon high dudgeon and teary 'patriotism'.
Mr. Booker doesn't reach those heights. Granted Disneyland has a lot of fans, too, but it creeps me out.
4
The facts are that 75% of the white men, 54% of the white women voted for Trump in 2016. Today the stock market is up and the unemployment is low, we have to assume that very little change will happen regarding the white vote in 2020. The new scandals have had little impact on Trump' s popularity. The white voters that did not vote for Trump probably will not vote for him no matter who is the democratic candidate. Though the white vote appear to be cast for the 2020 election, there is still a possibility for a Trump defeat. There were 8 million less votes in the 2016 election when compared to the Obama election in 2012. The total black vote participation went from 12.9 % in 2012 to 11.9% in 2016. The Clintons were not popular with the blacks and many of them decided not to vote in the 2016 elections. Considering the fact that it took only 70,000 votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to swing the 2016 election in favor of Trump, we have to assume that a candidate that excites the black voters to the voting booths could easily overcome the 70,000 votes deficit in these three states. For all these reasons I believe that Cory Booker is probably the best candidate to beat Trump in 2020.
If the percentage of black voters in 2020 reaches the same level of 2012, in the three states mentioned above, the Democratic party can obtain at least 150,000 extra votes.
Agreed that Cory Booker would be a really good choice for president. He is smart, compassionate, has had both legislative and executive experience and , I believe is one who could unify the country and, at the same time, work to fix some of the problems with our criminal justice system and our environment.
Rescuing a neighbor from a fire reveals something about his character...so is his being a vegan at a time when our planet is being threatened by climate change. He is a politician who is more than just words.
But he is also a politician who knows how to use the power of words. I remember his speech at the 2016 Democratic Convention.
I think he could attract not only people of color, but those more fiscally conservative Democrats and some Republicans who are looking for a party after Donald Trump.
cratic Convention in 2016. He would appeal to
2
Let me start by saying I like Booker well enough - and that comes after trying to like him even more. He has done some good things and he is very good at optics and doing the "outside the box" dance of working with corporations and billionaires such as the educational initiative with the Newark city schools while he was mayor there.
I can only say that I like him well enough because I sense he would be another Barack Obama if he were to win. Another politician who talks a good game and then gets into office and isn't able to achieve real substantial change. Case in point, Obama signs the Paris accord but isn't able to initiate a comprehensive Green energy. As someone who voted for Obama twice, what I learned in his eight years was to lower and lower my expectations as to what he would be able to accomplish. Unfortunately, he talked hope but he was not someone who would stand up and fight or effectively play the game of politics to help most Americans.
I get a similar vibe from Booker. Appears to be personable - but when it comes down to getting things accomplished he will probably disappoint by compromising away too much and turn out to be much more image than substance. Not a bad person - potential to grow and deepen as both a person and leader, but not the person to lead at this point in time. His attacks on Biden do not reflect well on him and his indignation comes across as forced.
1
Lots of negative sentiments expressed in reader's comments. One repeated sentiment in particular caught my attention, the view that Booker is self-promoting, calling attention to himself and perhaps unctuous. Isn't that true of most politicians?
I've never met Booker. I have listened to him speak on a variety of occasions - intelligent and practical. Allegations of grandstanding at the Kavanaugh hearing are a meh. What I learned about Booker from Ms. Goldberg's column is he has an impressive background. Comment's alleging he is cozy with the pharmaceutical industry are sobering. Has he moved on from that?
I still have not made up my mind about who to support for the nomination. I'm convinced that no matter which Democratic candidate is nominated and elected, we will not be able to Clorox Trump's mess unless Moscow Mitch is also defeated. Which is to say, neither Warren's plans, Sander's Medicare for All, Castro's immigration solution, Buttigieg's brilliance, Inslee's climate plans, nor any other Democratic proposals will flourish if Democrats don't control the Senate.
With that in mind, I am weighing which candidate can best defeat Trump. The decision is not necessarily dependent on the candidate - it also must include who best can inspire/motivate voters. (And by the way, I doubt Trump will agree to face-to-face debates with the Democratic nominee unless they are held in West Virginia or Alabama with an audience of red hats).
Let's stop attacking Democratic candidates!
2
Booker was Mayor of Newark for two terms. The DOJ investigated the In July, 2014, the Department of Justice released a report that showed that the had engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional conduct. According to the report, seventy-five percent of documented pedestrian stops by the police were not justified. Yet during the three years that the Department of Justice investigated the department, its internal-affairs office dismissed ninety-nine percent of complaints lodged against officers.
1
Why would Cory Booker’s veganism somehow be a negative as a candidate?? His choice to follow a plant based diet demonstrates a sincere concern for animal rights, as well as climate change, agribusiness, food safety, and health. There is nothing funny or wacky about making a conscious choice to be kind and mindful of the impact that personal decisions have on the well-being of our increasing fragile planet. It’s one of many reasons I would be thrilled to have Cory Booker in the Oval Office.
4
In an era where jobs are still being exported many are also disappearing due to automation. Booker's baby bond is pie in the sky and shows his true willful ignorance. How is he going to ensure said baby is going to live long and well enough to cash in said bond? We are on the downward slope of the population curve and do not need to speed up the demise of humans.
It is an even bigger show of hypocrisy to worry about food animal impact on climate change yet completely ignore the huge impact one human has - far more than food animals.
If Booker would trot out a sustainable economic plan/model, would have a plan to lift up people so they can find their own kids' baby bond, I would begin to consider him.
As a retired public school administrator I find myself among those who view Cory Booker with suspicion. Like Bill Clinton, George W Bush and President Obama, he would support the use of standardized tests to "measure" schools and encourage for-profit privatizers to "take over failing schools". Indeed, like every President since Reagan he would champion the idea of running government like a business. That's why those of us who worked in or are working in "government schools" are suspicious of a candidate who's "...reaped financial support from Wall Street" and has a "...style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism". And the "...$200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools" make it abundantly clear that under a Booker administration privatized schools will replace "government" schools.
3
Ms. Michelle - the most likely answer to your questions is that the current crop of Democratic candidates is like going to a food tasting contest. 24 different dishes. You're supposed to taste them ALL in a short period of time (without any palate cleansing) and determine which is the best. The problem? By the time you're done, they all blend, and none stand out. Booker would likely have stood out better in a smaller field. But this one? The biggest problem with large fields of candidates is that the voter can't consider any of them on merits. Only the most outrageous and loud are noticeable. That's how the nation ended up with Orange-face as the Republican candidate in 2016. While I KNOW Dems are better than that (with a bar THAT low, even a semi-conscious slug would seem better than Trump), but while I'm all for all of the candidates enthusiasm, right now it's about attention, not plans or merit. To be honest, several of the "Pay attention to ME!!!" types are pulling low numbers, but my observation is that right now people like Biden for example have the position they're in largely because of past name recognition and volume. That will change over time, and hopefully those with plans and definable visions (not just end-state goals, but actual visionary road plans) will emerge. That's what I want to see, but none of them are there just yet.
1
I hope you weren't serious when you talk about Booker being a social media hero and a reality tv star as credentials for the presidency. Personally, I need someone with a bit more to his or her resume.
3
Why not Cory Booker? I had never paid much attention to him prior to Wednesday night. So many to choose from!
I would agree that he carried the night with his presentations. I could support him in a heart beat.
However, what is electability today? Not in 2007 terms.
Voters vote out the party that disappointed them. It's usually one dominant issue. But it's too late to be another Obama. He won on an anti-war platform. The public was sick of wars.
I pulled this from Axios quoting from the WSJ.
"Median household income in the U.S. was $61,372 at the end of 2017, according to the Census Bureau. When inflation is taken into account, that is just above the 1999 level. Over a longer stretch — the three decades through 2017 — incomes are up 14% in inflation-adjusted terms."
"Average housing prices, however, swelled 290% over those three decades in inflation-adjusted terms, according to an analysis by Adam Levitin, a Georgetown Law professor."
"Average tuition at public four-year colleges went up 311%, adjusted for inflation, by his calculation. And average per capita personal health-care expenditures rose about 51% in real terms over a slightly shorter period, 1990 to 2017."
Actually there are TWO huge disappointments from Trump: an unfair economy and a lack of decency. While Climate Change is the elephant in the room, it is still sadly intellectual cocktail talk.
There is one candidate who is saying it best: Warren
4
The qualities we admire in Booker would make him a fine Secretary of State. We'll desperately need someone like him (him, actually) to mend broken global relationships and help to regain the trust and respect we've watched swirl down the drain.
1
Booker has simply never inspired me as Obama did. Yes, his shilling for the Pharmaceutical Industry gave me pause.
It made him seem like just another corporatist politician stumping for his own ambition.
All accolades get afforded to whoever did the best job of drubbing Uncle Joe in the last debate. Wednesday was a disaster. Nobody had an uplifting message of hope or unity. The candidates piled-on Joe, and by implication the Obama administration, as if they could have done better while seemingly forgetting that Trump and the GOP are destroying America as we know it. They, not we, are the enemy, so can we please disband the circular firing squad?
I just don't get the sense that most of these Democratic candidates, Booker included, understand the gravity of the moment we are currently living through. Booker is primarily for Booker. Gillibrand is for Gillibrand. Harris is for Harris. They don't seem to have a common purpose or understand that this is the most important election in a generation. Do they understand that the survival of our democracy is at stake? We are teetering on the brink of a cliff right now. Why are these candidates spending so much time discussing bussing policies in the 1970s?
Meanwhile, Warren comes across like the second coming of FDR and actually has ideas that go beyond feathering her own nest. I don't know if she is "electable." I just know I want to vote for her.
So I guess that's why not Cory Booker.
4
Booker may sincerely be the real deal but he looks, sounds and acts like a poser. Perception of a candidate is the reality of that candidate.
2
The sense I get is that the country isn't looking for Obama #2 or Clinton #3 but an FDR.
1
I don’t understand the obsession with finding another FDR. He was demonstrably the reason the Depression dragged on for a decade and for the trillions of unfunded liabilities of our social programs today. We need another Coolidge.
1
I wonder what it must feel like to be Kristin Gillibrand? She was amazing at the debate! No attention whatsoever. She was the only one to articulate that health insurance is so costly because it is a for profit industry when it should not be.
She would also mop the floor with Trump in a debate. She speaks intelligently and amazingly well. She has a sense of humor and yes, she is beautiful.
Furthermore, while Harris had to let us know she met with Eric Garner's mother, Sen G. just oversaw the passing of the 911 First Resp bill. She made no mention of it.
Can your next story be why not Kristin?
4
@Chris
The answer to why not Cory or Kristin is substance, or actually lack there of. It is also on job performance and laser focus on identity politics which has divided this country and fans the flames of hate. I will not take the risk on.either of these two. There are better candidates running.
3
@Chris Two words why most of us democrats eschew Gillibrand... Al Franken.
1
Why not Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders? After all, they have obvious voter support as shown in polls and small donor campaign contributions. Their positions on major issues like health care and economic inequality resonate powerfully among Americans, especially youth, as demonstrated in the 2016 presidential primaries, which Sanders nearly won. Unlike Joe Biden, their poll numbers continue to climb as their policy positions gain publicity. So why ignore their popularity?
It's as if the NYTimes and, indeed, the whole mainstream media establishment will go to any length to minimize the outcry in this country for Democrats to mount a real challenge to corporate power and the ascendant oligarchy. Despite Trump's fascistic threats, the pundits clutch their pearls and cry,"GO RIGHT, Democrats! GO RIGHT!"
This is how Trump wins.
5
Why mock Booker's veganism? We know animal agriculture is a leading (many argue THE leading) cause of climate change. It's the leading cause of habitat destruction, wildlife extinction, ocean dead zones, human world hunger and human disease. Booker's veganism should be embraced and praised, not ridiculed. When will so-called progressives, who attack climate change deniers, look in the mirror and question their own denial?
3
The thing with Booker is that he can be kind of cheesy. The Spartacus moment was certainly cheesy. But that's as bad as he gets--cheesiness is his worst quality. The more stumbling we see from Biden, the more flip-flopping we seen from Harris, the more troubling Gillibrand and Buttigieg's past decisions become, the more palatable will be Booker's cheesiness. I'm with Warren but if we send a moderate forward at the convention, it should absolutely be Booker.
1
Bookers not in the same universe as Obama. Obama overcame his polling deficit because he was a singular political talent. Bookers not in the same league, and will fail.
6
Until he and the other Democrats address the immigration/asylum issue seriously none of them should be president. I’ve been reading about the gangs, the drugs, the kidnappings, the unsolved homicides, and all the rest for years now. I’ve read about these problems in the Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and in other publications. Now is not the time to open the borders and look the other way.
6
No thank you, Senator Booker. He had to be prodded (!) to disavow his ties to Betsy DeVos, an early funder of his career. That's questionable off the bat, since all of America rose up in disgust at her lack of qualifications, obvious disdain for public schools, and blatant ignorance of how schools function or what they need.
As mayor, Cory Booker brokered the giveaway of Newark, NJ, public schools to privately-managed charter operators and squandered at least 60% of the $100 million Zuckerberg donated to improve charters (read _The Prize_, by Dale Russakoff). The city tired of his nonsense and they elected a mayor who supports public schools to oust Booker.
Most recently Cory Booker was too cowardly to defend his record of privatizing neighborhood schools that 90% of the nation's kids attend in front of the National Education Association's presidential forum. He has no education plans unionized teachers will like. The Education part of his website is thin and filled with vague cliches designed to hide his connections to billionaires who profiteer off education. His terrible record on public education is one big reason to say no.
There are plenty of others, like his vote on refusing to lower prescription drug costs. I can't believe he's being put forward as if he has a real chance. NO.
13
The middle class is dying. People are dying because they cant afford healthcare. People are going bankrupt because of medical bills.
And in the midst of this Booker remains a darling of the for-profit healthcare industry.
Gee, i wonder why he isnt catching fire.
8
Whether we like it or not, being the POTUS is being a politician, and a politician has to know how to manage one' constituents. This includes the rich, the middle class (whatever is left of it) and the poor. I don't believe our nation can go from one extreme (Trump) to another (Sanders or Biden) besides those guys are too old. Booker is smart enough to have learned what Obama's failures were, yes there were failures. His years on the Hill have made him aware that without partisanship we will be stuck in the quagmire that exists today with all this bickering and infighting. As in anything in life some times you have to give something up to get something done. Booker knows how to do that.
2
Play it safe and the nation continues to decline. We need a person who embraces change. Mayor Pete is the answer but a nation that can't get out of its own way will never elect him. A second choice is the girl with a plan; Warren. As for the rest of the bobble heads; I will vote for ANYONE but Trump.
7
Cory Booker works for me. But my personal opinion is there's some experienced and smart women in the field I'd prefer. Women desrve a chance. Especially since they're the reason Democrats won such a major House victory in the midterms. Not to mention they got shortchanged the last time. I think there's never been a more opportune time for a female President.
2
Knowing Bookers record in NJ he did some good things and some not good things. Last night we saw him put a rosy picture over his past on dealing with his police force which was disingenuous at best while lambasting Bidens votes from more years ago than his mistakes in the 2000's. Then to take a shot at his old buddy Obama showed a side of his ambition that finally turned me off to even considering him as VP. Many seem to forget who they will be running against its Trump not Obama.
7
No. I've been watching Cory Booker for years. He has many good qualities including intelligence and empathy.
But there's a little bit of a whining child in there. He was "deeply hurt" by Biden's in a long ago past being on civil professional terms with a segregationist. What does that have to do with anything but his personal feelings?
He did not take responsibility for his stop and frisk policy or explain it -- just attacked Biden.
So no, he has dropped off my radar. Not the plummeting dive of Kamala Harris but still professional victimhood isn't attractive. The American people come in all sizes and flavors and only appearing to black voters as he pretty openly has been doing leaves out a lot of people. What are his policies? How will he address women's issues, for example? What has he done?
3
Really, people. Does it matter which of the Democrats we choose?
Any of those on the current list of 20 would be far superior to the Trump debacle.
I'm hereby designating the Anyone But Trump party.
4
@Caroline
It does really matter. You would really vote for a person who allowed at least 4 black men to be convicted knowing you had evidence that proved their innocence and you knowingly and willingly violated their rights and the law by suppressing the evidence for the trial and after a higher court ordered it turned over? These men are free now with no help from Harris and no apologies to them or their families. And she dares speak about deportations separating families. Then there are her environmental record that is shameful.
Booker is a show pony like many of the Dem candidates. He is too focused on identity politics, not focused enough on what is happening in THIS country, and doesn't really get what he needs to do to bring the long time Dems in the Midwest back to the tent. Without them, we will suffer through 4 more years of Trump.
3
Booker was twice elected Mayor of Newark, serving from 2006 to 2013. During his last term as mayor, the Department of Justice conducted a multi-year investigation of the Newark Police Department. DOJ found that 75% of pedestrian police stops violated the constitutional rights of their recipients. During the same period, the department's internal affairs office dismissed 99% of civilian complaints. Luckily for Booker, he was elected to the US Senate eight months before the DOJ report was released. For Booker to attack Biden for his record on criminal justice is absurd. Democrats overwhelmingly supported the crime bills that Biden authored and President Clinton signed into law. In hindsight, many of the provisions in those bills, especially ones related to mandatory minimum sentences and "truth in sentencing", caused tremendous harm. Other laws such as the Violence Against Women Act and the ban on assault rifles were for the good. But in terms of his role in criminal justice as Newark's Mayor, Booker has nothing to be proud of.
11
As a New Jersey resident for the last 8 years, I can't support Booker for president because I think he's a player, not a sincerely ethical man. This shows up particularly strikingly with regard to the Democratic machine, driven by Norcross, that corruptly runs much of the state. Booker stands with Norcross. That's of a piece with the way he did with Wall St and the pro Israel lobby against the Iran deal. He's too easily bought.
10
Cory Booker being vegan is the best thing about him.
It shows he's truly committed to caring about animals, the environment, and health. He's got my vote.
1
Booker is a great self-promoter, always has been. That’s all.
8
I must have watched a different debate than all the commentators. I thought he was affirmatively rude to Biden. I don’t get an optimistic, ebullient vibe from him; I get a phony one. I so wanted Biden to put him in his place but alas...I don’t see anyone presidential. I also don’t see anyone who seems capable of taking on Trump (both from a debate standpoint and from a general election appeal standpoint). These two debates were better than the first two, but you can still count me concerned.
6
People who don’t mind candidates who, in the pretty recent past, have “reaped financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry” are, I believe, supporting Biden.
Might Biden supporters switch to someone else? Perhaps. But since so many Biden supporter are supporting Biden because he is “most electable,” I think not. “Most electable” in their minds seems to mean white, male, and Christian, which disqualifies Booker.
Anyway; should either Booker or Biden win the nomination, I’ll probably take a pass on voting for them.
While most Democrats might be corporate centrists, Democrats aren’t the majority of the electorate. Democrats will have to win my vote and another neoliberal corporate centrist won’t do it.
Booker did well last night. But he does not stand up against Kamala Harris. But if she crashes and burns on her record as a prosecutor and AG in Cal she might. She has the combination of preacher and prosecutor that makes her sound good whether she is attacking or talking about that little girl and busing.
That the Times published this says a lot about the field. Booker is a political hack vying in a moment of massive antipathy for politicians of any stripe. We elected Obama because he promised to upend the system, not because he was an inspiring moderate. We elected Trump for the same reason. We want to be done with politicians. What is Corey other than just that? Nothing.
4
We didn’t elect Trump.
Booker’s past record in trying to integrate the realities of libertarian free enterprise is not the same as the corrupted oligarchical corporatism that is an existential threat to our nation.
4
Most of the country is not paying attention to the Democratic primaries, yet. The elections are more than a year away.
2
Booker is a very good option but I consistently feel that a Biden with Warren as Veep will be a formidable voting turn-out machine. You get centrist stability with recognition, and then the female and progressive vote attached to her. Warren is too far left and Joe is a good balance to that. Biden/Warren sounds already good as a ticket. Sorry Bernie, I like you too but we need to win this one.
5
I like Booker. If he can manage to get through the first cull or two, his numbers might rise. And I agree with Ms Goldberg: he probably is the best person to take on Trump.
7
It is high time Booker caught on. As you said, that Baby Bonds idea alone is worth his candidacy. In these times, his inspiring rhetoric is all the more reason to get on his side. He could take on Trump and get the job done.
6
Well, Ms. Goldberg, I'll answer your question with my own question. Ever seen the candidate with Robert Redford?
Most of the fabulous qualities you believe Booker possesses have little to do with how well he would perform as president; they speak much more to what type of CANDIDATE he could be.
There are actually some of us who focus on a candidate's policy proposals, foreign policy knowledge, ability to lead, to bring people together, etc. etc. and not on how good they look, how talented they are at debating or whether he is considered "exciting" by journalists.
Perhaps if you, and others in the media, focused on those issues, Booker possibly could "catch on."
5
Second sentence - refers to the movie "The Candidate."
It would be a good idea to look into how the millions that Booker "raised" for education were actually spent in Newark, and at how "remade" the public schools actually were. Much of the money went to "consultants" who were supposed to decide how it should be spent. Ms. Goldberg doesn't cite anything specific that Booker actually did to improve Newark. By the way, now his brother has been hired at a large salary to oversee preschool programs for the state of New Jersey, despite having no experience that would qualify him for that job.
20
Why not Joe Biden? He should have been the nominee in 2016, if he hadn’t dropped out after the death of his son. He is a very good person, and that is the single most important qualification for president. All the bickering about healthcare, immigration, taxes, corruption, national security and civil rights is irrelevant if Trump is re-elected.
16
Cory Booker has always been high on my list, but Elizabeth Warren is far and away the best candidate. Glad he might make it to the next round, so we can hear more from him.
I'll vote for any Democrat against Trump. Pretty furious with Steyer for his end run, but even him.
Very very very tired of Bernie, though many of his ideas started our recent progress. He is also unfailingly unrealistic about what things cost and how to get there, along with having a poor record of getting anything done. Though he did cave on gun control, going along to get along, which is unsurprising.
However, Berniebuster bullying is over the top, and he doesn't discourage it.
Sad and sorry that Biden's record is so revealing on his old boy behavior. I don't think he's changed all that much, and remember he's been running forever and always lost to other Democrats. He's similar to Hillary, but without her plans and intelligence (but lacking her baggage, aka Bill's failure to acknowledge his roving eye destroyed her and us Democrats as well - note Gore would probably have won, and how great that would have been!).
7
If you've watched "Street Fight", it's hard not to see a number of admirable traits wrapped up inside a decent human being when you look at Mr. Booker. But maybe the promise offered by the person featured in the documentary was too much for a real life politician to deliver on.
Maybe it's my fault for wanting too much based on a movie, but like many people here though, I'm more than ready to support him if he gets the Democratic nod.
2
Why not? Because he's a corporatist. He fundamentally supports the rule by the financial elite. Therefore, his policy ideas are vaporware. Some of them might be good. But as long as the financial elite are effectively running the show, NONE of them will become real law.
That is the flaw with all the candidates except Warren and Sanders. They support the system that undermines anything good they might propose.
There is a reason anti-establishment sentiment keeps growing. The will of the people keeps getting thwarted, twisted and denied. The despicable limousine liberal concept is talking about establishment democrats who support the power of wealth over the power of uncorrupted representative democracy while espousing "liberal" talking points about helping the little guy in whatever form that might take.
Biden is this cycle's poster child for corporatist shill. Just as Clinton was last cycle. The democratic party establishment, the financial elite, is happy to lose to Trump with a safe candidate like Biden. Just as it was with Clinton. They have done fine with Trumps tax breaks. And they appear to be negligibly patriotic.
They have existential dread of Warren and Sanders. Because those two, and only those two, support uncorrupted representative democracy. Not to put too fine a point on it but that means specifically that the financial elite lose political power. They have to live under laws that benefit the Average American more than them. For a real change. Not Booker.
22
He is not Obama who has a track record on a national scale. I thought he started with love for every one? Yet he was nasty and tried to pull down Obama's record. This provides fodder for Trump. Any one who even remotely does this will not get support from moderates like me. We want Trump gone and Booker is making this difficult. May be many folks see him this way. He will not beat Trump and hence does not get my vote.
9
I am basically trying to ignore the debates right now. They seem to be designed, especially by the moderators, to create infighting among the candidates. Those that have the least amount of public support seem to act the most outrageous in hopes of increasing their position in order to make the next round of debates. Every seems to want to pick on Joe Biden because he is the most popular right now.
I am hoping the next round of debates will include less infighting and begin to address what I consider more important issues, such as how best to defeat Trump.
If Mr. Booker wins the Democratic nomination next summer, I will very gladly vote for him.
7
I'm in. Booker is the best candidate out of this field of people who appear only to be doing "market research" and the only one that I can see who is already actually running for the Presidency.
6
I happen to believe a Warren-Booker or a Harris-Booker ticket would win and Booker would be set up to win the Presidency after 8 years. I can't imagine Democratic voters not favoring a woman in the White House at this crucial juncture in American history.
7
Agree Michelle. I'm supporting Booker for all your reasons, but primarily because Booker is the only candidate who is a strong supporter of nuclear power. In the long run climate change is the only issue that matters, and Booker realizes nuclear is the only way we'll be able to put the brakes on it. Booker gets it.
It amazes me Greenpeace is supporting him - maybe they don't know yet.
1
Why not? Really good reasons.
1) Read the book on Zuckerberg's $100m to NJ schools. Read how he did nothing to help and was in fact part of the problem. I was impressed by him until I read this. Total political hack spending all of his time running for president even back then. Wasted a great opportunity. This alone says something about his character. This is a character flaw that cannot be ignored.
2) He does not have the necessary experience to be president. No serious international "chops" which is where this country gets into big trouble by the uninformed and unwise leadership. I can't imagine him up against the likes of Xi or Putin. That would be a sad and tragic match up for us - they would eat him alive. We have a president now that is unqualified for the office. Why repeat this problem?
The tendency of voters in this country, fed by the media, to favor "personalities" they "like" is like a movie star competition for political office - instead of thinking about what experience is necessary to be effective in the office is a core problem. Like as a qualifying criteria? He looks great, sounds nice, but if you analyze it - his needs at least 10 years more of international experience, which makes him light years away from even being considered qualified for office.
As SNL says - not ready for prime time.
24
Why not Cory Booker? He was all in for Charter schools in New Jersey, when New Jersey students are some of the highest scoring students in the US. He took money from Mark Zuckerberg to help struggling schools in Newark and most of that money did not go to classrooms, but consultants. Lastly, he has taken lots of money from Wall Street. Why would educators vote for Cory Booker? There are many of us and we vote!
30
I think I agree with the characterization of Booker as akin to hiding in plain sight. He's been around for so long we kind of forgot about him. I found myself agreeing with everything he said. And realizing that he could win this thing. I have worked as a mediator in the past and I especially appreciate his continued efforts to unify, unify, unify.
3
As far as I'm concerned, Jay Inslee won the debate. He didn't engage in any sniping, he's obviously a big-picture thinker, he has a sense of humor, he's passionate, he keeps his eye on the ball. From the outset, he focused the debate on climate change as THE issue the world is facing. He has all the progressive positions you'd want, and as an executive he's implemented many or all of them.
He'd slaughter Trump in a face-to-face. He'd be convincing in flyover country.
He towered over the rest during the debate, including the physically taller Di Blasio, whose candidacy is a vanity enterprise.
Why is Jay Inslee being ignored?
49
@Mostly Rational: l agree but I also like Michael Bennett, another thoughtful, intelligent public servant. He made two of the most enlightened points of the night - that schools are even more segregated today than post busing and we all know who gets the great schools and that 88% of those incarcerated lack a high school diploma. That's disgraceful. I'm still with Warren but am looking at Inslee and Bennett, too.
10
Because he’s done little (really nothing) to protect the Puget Sound’s resident Orcas. I find it ridiculous to think he could save the planet if he can’t even help a fabulous symbol of the PNW.
1
@Mostly Rational
The number of candidates is really killing both Bennet and Inslee. These are the types of qualified, very smart Democrats who might shine with a smaller field. Imagine if we had 6 or 7 candidates with more than 30 seconds for sound bite answers. I personally like competence and experience, but our times dictate one-liners and bomb-throwing. We seem to have alot of good candidates, but all have a flaw of some kind, in their case they come off as boring and regular even though they are where we need to be on the issues. I hope one or both is in the final group of 6 or 7 but unfortunately it looks unlikely.
2
So Senator Booker raised $200 million from "plutocrats" to fund Newark schools, and this kind of thing is supposedly "very much out of fashion" in certain quarters.
Frankly, I'm rather taken aback he didn't go to the PTA groups in those schools for such a trifling sum, but perhaps they were simply playing hard to get.
To paraphrase Willie Sutton: Booker went to the plutocrats because that's where caches of $200 million tend to be found.
5
He's not calm enough. Neither is Bernie. Nor Harris. Nor a few others.
The country needs the opposite. The opposite of the high volume, phrase punching, righteous posing president it needs relief from.
Sudden silence in a noisy room commands attention. And so would calm, measured, respectful demeanor in this game show streak of candidate appearances.
It's the kind of president we want. It's the kind of candidate I'm hoping will show up.
9
So...Mayor Pete? He’s like Mr. Rogers but out!
Call it my political sour grapes, Cory Booker’s political express train left the station without him in 2016 when an overconfident Hillary Clinton failed to place him on the ticket. America could have been spared the suffering of the Trump presidency had Mrs. Clinton injected senator Booker’s energy and skills to her campaign. With Booker as vice presidential nominee the 2016 regression in Black voting participation as compared to the 2012 election may not have occurred.
Senator Booker is viable as a potential Democratic nominee in the upcoming election, however his road to national office will be difficult as the center lane he has chosen is blocked by Joe Biden at the moment. Should Mr. Biden fade in the upcoming primaries, the momentum is likely to swing toward a progressive candidate. Elizabeth Warren is best prepared to carry that torch, leaving Cory Booker on the outside looking in.
Why Not Corey Booker ?
Hillary Clinton’s failure to recognize the fragility of the Democratic coalition in 2016 is a chunk of the equation.
6
I'll say this about Booker: He'd be a better choice for the centrists than Biden. At least he has energy and charisma.
The best I can say for Booker is that I would vote for him over Trump.
In contrast, how about really being open-minded and consider Andrew Yang? He's also a non-white, and his focus is on restoring good jobs and wages to Americans, a sure winning agenda that cuts across all demographics, and the liberal and conservative ends of the spectrum. He' s also - unlike Booker and Biden - very progressive, but he doesn't lead with those aspects which tend to make the moderates fearful.
Booker - No. Yang - Yes.
8
Cory Booker doesn't have children. I can't support a candidate that doesn't know what it's like to worry on what kind of a future their kids will inherit. Not a knock against his decision, just where I am.
7
This app intrigues me. How many children does a candidate need to qualify as being concerned enough about children? What are your other random qualifications based on wanting someone exactly like you not necessarily someone who seeks better for all of us?
7
@Summer- I’m a parent also, and I must say I agree with Erik. Additionally, I would add I would like military experience, whether that be a military child or a serving Vet. They also know worry and service and discipline. Also, I want a candidate that will stand up to wall St and Bug Pharma and Booker just won’t.
6
@Erik So are you saying you are sticking with Trump? Doesn't Trump fit your stated criteria?
Cory Booker would be a far, far better president than Trump and probably a better one than most of his Democratic rivals. His experience as a big-city mayor would be especially welcome because, as we have recently seen, our current president has absolutely no understanding of the struggling towns of this country or of the people who live in them. But Booker seems to suffer from two persistent defects in the expectations of Democratic primary voters. First, they are always looking for an inspirational, charismatic figure like JFK or Obama and consequently dismiss the smart, decent, qualified people who are actually available. Second, they continually confuse respect for business interests with subservience to them. As a liberal who seeks neither inspiration nor purity from a president, just good government, I hope Booker stays in the race long enough to be a factor.
17
Cory Booker, while superficially a great candidate, does not stand up to scrutiny.
His policies as Mayor of Newark led to more graft and corruption. One example is the Newark school system still has a superintendent and dozens of assistant superintendents who all make over $100k / year, yet can’t find a decent teacher to save their lives. Maybe get rid of a few administrators and raise salaries for teachers and your schools won’t be the worst in New Jersey. But why, when the rest of Essex County is footing the bill?
While he was not raised rich, he has used his position in politics to amass wealth instead of protecting the middle and working classes. Sure, he lays lip service to this idea, but his actions do not bear it out.
His great claim to fame is actions like shoveling snow for constituents and bringing diapers to mothers who tweet about not being able to afford them; this is political theatre. I’m not saying he didn’t do these things, but the only reason he did them was, as the kids say, “for the ‘gram.” He knew it would play well on social media, that’s all.
Cory Booker is all talk. He’s not the candidate we need right now, he’s just a poor refraction of everything that’s wrong with the other side.
65
Booker and his campaign is weak on crime and immigration issues that worry voters of all shades. This is a big problem for the Democratic Party candidates right now. The candidates at the debate tried to beat up Biden and Warren on their previous tough on crime record.
5
It is quite obvious that Michelle hasn't spent a lot of time interviewing residents and city employees in Newark. All were happy to see him leave. He talks a good game but is a terrible player. As with many of the mayors before him, he was the subject of a public corruption investigation. Leaving town when he did probably saved him similar to Torricelli "retiring" early from the Senate.
37
Booker was very impressive this past MLK Day in Columbia, South Carolina. A great speech. Bernie was here as well that very cold morning, but generated no excitement. I believe the African American community here still supports Biden, but we’ll see if last night helps Booker. It’s possible.
2
@Edward Bosch if Booker can stay in the race and make a good showing in Iowa, then things could break for him in a big way. Black voters like him but they want to beat Trump so that makes Biden, whom they also like, a logical choice. But, if Booker starts moving up, then black voters might leave Biden en masse.
Booker is not inspiring. He comes across as a player on SNL, as if he were mimicking the foibles of a showboating candidate. But he actually is just being himself.
He is smart and all the other good things you said. He’d be a fine President I am sure. Much much better than the Stain presently disgracing the Oval Office. But Booker ain’t the best candidate and he isn’t even in the top 5. Warren, Inslee, Buttigieg, Yang, Sanders — each is a better candidates than Booker.
Harris is strong but she is a phony and that comes across each time she speaks. Biden is beyond toast. And Delaney and Bennett may as well quit right now and support the candidates of their respective choices.
49
@Scottapottamus Great post. I agree except as to Biden. Biden fails as a a reality TV showboat, and he's done things over the years that I disagreed with deeply; but he's a very bright, knowledgeable, intellectually curious guy; he's more progressive than most of us give him credit for; and he has a real commitment to bringing people together, not in a superficial way. A lousy candidate perhaps, but I think he'd serve us well as President. He's not my 1st choice, but I'd be hopeful if he were elected.
22
Corey’s unblinking wide eye thing is kinda weird and his speaking style makes him seem like he’s putting us on. He might be great, but he can’t change those tv things.
Then again dt got elected and his hair and tanning bed skin tone and raccoon eyes pretty much tell his whole story.
Superficial, you bet. Accurate assessment.....
On a checklist of issues, I suspect he and I are close. But that's not all that matters. Is he the person I trust with decisions that may be most consequential for me and millions of others?
With much fanfare, he became tough on crime as mayor. After he got sued and put under a court order, he became a proponent of the opposite position -- with much fanfare.
He promotes himself as a unifier. Then he pulls the race card on Biden, who does NOT deserve it. In short, he does what he thinks will work for him. Granted, he's a very skillful self-promoter, but that's not very satisfying.
Do I trust him? About as far as I can throw Donald Trump.
26
@Joe Booker and Harris are clones. No substance but they possess a willingness to do whatever will get them ahead. They will walk all over everybody to get attention.They are clones of Sarah Palin.
When Booker speaks and closes his eyes, I know he is lying!
3
Democrats are looking for someone who can beat Trump. They also realize that whoever winds up getting elected is going to inhabit their living spaces for four years. They are looking for a candidate who can wear well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve yelled at an electric device imploring Booker to get to the point. Too many times there hasn’t been one. The man loves the sound of his own voice. Booker was outstanding in Wednesday’s debate, but putting up with four years of self-absorbed blather is a big ask!
20
Yeah I can do without another male narcissist. I know all presidential candidates have higher than average levels of narcissism, but he doesn’t seem have much depth or core beliefs either.
Where did the meme come from that Sanders/Warren supporters don't represent the mainstream of the party? Combined, Sanders and Warren poll numbers are about the same as Biden's. If or when one of them drops out, support would shift to the other candidate, making him or her even with Biden.
The NYT coverage of Bernie seems to be more about his age and tone of voice, not about his actual ideas for helping people. It's so frustrating, like the aliens from "They Live" are still in charge of the media, doing everything they can to hold back the future.
People should watch the debates themselves, not let this election be filtered through the same pundit class who got it so wrong last time.
27
"It’s a bit of mystery, then, why he’s yet to break into the top tier of 2020 Democratic contenders."
It's not a mystery at all. Obviously, he is smart, but he tries too hard to be likeable and it doesn't quite work. I have seen him in interviews, in Senate hearings and in debates and, let me tell you, he comes across as inauthentic.
Obama's memorable keynote address and his ability to inspire people is what propelled him to the presidency. Ability to inspire people is a rare gift that Cory Booker lacks.
I saw Booker use the Kool Aid line again today and it came across as rather lame.
The tendency of analysts and opinion writers to propel a candidate to the forefront after said candidate managed to deliver a line or two effectively is equally lame.
It was Kamla Harris and "I was that girl," that seemed to have resonated with the opinion writers after the first debate.
This time it is the Kool Aid line of Cory Booker.
Let's see how Booker fares in the coming days before getting all excited about his candidacy.
37
One hundred percent!
I was open to supporting Booker until I watched an interview with Judy Woodruff on the PBS Newshour. He has advocated returning voting rights to convicts after their release from prison and was asked about allowing the same people to vote while still incarcerated and in his response he stated that it was Bernie Sanders who wanted to make sure that “Dylan Roof and the Boston Marathon bomber” got to vote, not him. Lee Atwater would have been proud.
17
I agree that Cory Booker should be considered a serious candidate for the nomination. I read his autobiographical book United, which focuses mostly on his political learning curve since graduating from Yale, and I was deeply impressed by what a decent human being he is and how many times he admits his own mistakes and tries to do better. He also deeply absorbs mentoring from other natural leaders. Booker is extremely articulate, engaging, energetic, and dedicated to lifting up fellow human beings. Let's hear more about him.
8
When will he catch on? After the debates when he went after Biden instead of Trump, I crossed him off my list. The Democrats should know the goal: defeat Trump.
Every time a Democrat attacks a fellow Democrat, that candidate makes Trump stronger.
24
@Janet "Every time a Democrat attacks a fellow Democrat, that candidate makes Trump stronger."
ALMOST every time, but not every. When Rep. Gabbard corrected Rep. Ryan last week, it was the Right Thing: She blew the whistle on someone arrogant enough to aspire to the Presidency, while astonishingly ignorant of very important facts that every responsible citizen should know. No harm done there.
And when she confronted Sen. Harris about the truth of her history, she did the nation a service. She shouted to the world that the senator is a self-centered self-promoter, and reminded us all that there still are leading Democrats who believe in, and stand for, and hope for, something better.
5
Does he have charisma – perhaps? He could be kind-hearted, relaxed or chummy. Many voters could do what feels nice when it comes to voting.
1
I agree with the author. Cory Booker and his candidacy is all too fantastical. He can't beat Warren or Sanders on the debate floor because he whines instead of fights. His policy choices and corporate donors tell the same story. And Booker is no Obama.
34
"Sure, I understand why he’s viewed with suspicion by large parts of the populist left. In the past he’s reaped financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry. His style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism, symbolized by the $200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools, is very much out of fashion."
A too comfortable Wall Street connection plus a facile media-oriented slickness has made people wary. Maybe that's unfair, but it's what Booker must overcome if he is to break out of the lower tier of candidates. There is a deep conviction among many Democrats that the party's recent chummy alliance with Wall Street financial interests has come at the expense of the working class and must be severed.
Booker has shown no inclination to move in that direction. That's going to be a problem for him to solve if he is going to make a play for voters on the left. Perhaps he can argue that when you are mayor of Newark, a city mired in poverty, you don't have the luxury of being fussy about where you find millions of dollars for urban redevelopment. You take what you can get, where you can get it, and be grateful.
Booker's alternative is to try to take voters away from the centrist leader, Biden. While he made a good start on that project this week, he won't truly succeed unless he convinces voters that he, not Biden, is the anointed heir to Obama. That will be hard to do with Joe clinging to Obama's legacy like glue.
9
I was leaning toward a Warren-Buttigieg ticket, but I've been impressed with Booker in both debates and now think that Warren-Booker would be a stronger ticket. My biggest concern all along with the Warren-Buttigieg ticket is that it is too narrowly tailored to match the tastes of educated liberal whites (like me). Booker, I think, will appeal to black voters better and also actually may work better than Buttigieg for many working class white voters. Booker has a great combination of intelligence, calm and even kind demeanour, and a strong presence. I've grown to like him a lot and think he complements Warren very well.
29
@617to416
After reading some of the other comments, I think it's worth pointing out that my support for Booker is as the VP candidate not the lead. I think Warren is head and shoulders above everyone else in the race for the top of the ticket.
Booker, though, seems a great complement to her as I think he may widen the ticket's appeal without alienating any of Warren's current supporters.
10
@617to416
Totally agree -- Warren-Booker is also my dream ticket!
4
If NJ wasn't the Garden State it would be the Corporate State. Don't blame Booker for knowing who's buttering his constituents' bread. He is not an Obama proxy. He's much louder and in your face but he will re-mobilize the 2012 Obama coalition and will be able to cover the wide range from social conservatives to democratic socialists.
11
He’s no Obama and it doesn’t take much to see that. Sorry, but it’s not his time. Newark was a nightmare for many years of his mayoralty. He got lucky when Frank Lautenberg, former NJ Senator died, and his space opened up. There’s one JFK or Obama in a lifetime and Cory Booker is not that person.
3
Dear NYT:
Booker was marginally better in the second debate, but his unctious style, huge fake smile and dishonest attacks on Joe Biden will not win over any voters.
91
Corey Booker hits all the marks but for one - he supports charter schools. Charter schools suck the lifeblood from the public school system.
39
I thought that Booker, who has excellent debating skills, did better in the first debate than the second. However, during the second debate his point about the Democrats tearing each other apart over healthcare policy was well taken. It seemed like he was grandstanding when he said he supported impeaching Trump. The
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are already doing the right thing by opening an impeachment inquiry but it makes no sense to draft Articles of Impeachment. I also thought he said that African American voters are the most important group in this election, but don't know if I understood what he meant by that statement. I think that a Warren-Booker ticket would be a strong one. I also don't understand the why Biden is polling ahead of the rest of the Democrats, unless people are not yet familiar with the other candidates.
9
Smug. Entitled.Sorry.
50
CB is a nice suit filled with little more than ambition. His attempted takedown of Biden, a man of genuine morality, was disgraceful; a gift to the Trump campaign, no less.
69
Why not Biden, Ms. Goldberg? All the credentials and clearly the polling favorite.
This may not appeal journalistic professionals like yourself, but it is the reality at the moment.
18
I'm sorry, Michelle, but NEVER! The reasons are many... #1. He is a man of color, I voted for Obama, but I'm sorry to say the country is not going to accept again. #2 Cory luvs the big money goes a bit too much after it.He has spent numerous trips in Calif. courting these groups and big Pharma in NJ #3 He's a phony all his righteous doesn't ring true. His own father told him to stop strutting around like he hit a homer,,, he was born on third base! Obviously, he hasn't learned a thing in all those years.
Alas... I could go on! Sparcatus, anyone?
27
If Cory gets any traction, the reality of his time as mayor of Newark will be aired in full. In short, he was very big on PR and accomplished little. Add in a traditional amount of NJ corruption (his water authority shenanigans are a prime example) and he will blow away like a discarded tissue.
24
If Harris slips, there may yet be an opening for Booker. He needs to set aside his vegetarianism, though, and gobble down a corn dog at the Iowa State Fair. A small price to pay for the Oval Office.
3
@Chris Rasmussen Harris HAS slipped. She and Booker are two of a kind!
He’s too canned. Every line is so practiced as to become meaningless. Did anyone really even know what that Kool-Aid line meant? I wish there was a there there but his slickness is why he isn’t doing better at this point.
56
@S Goldberg Senator Spartacus is an encyclopedia of PR sound bites and dramatic stunts.
1
We're doomed to another term of Trump aren't we?
If you don't like reading above then take a good hard look at all of our "potentials". And once you've taken a look at them with your eyes , from where you live, I would like you to try to take a look at them through a Lincoln, Nebraska Independent's eyes. Or a Shasta City, California's Independent's eyes. Or tell ya what - you choose the place that you are not from and possibly have only visited while en-route to somewhere else. That's the place I'm talking about.
Sorry but this is just lame. None of these people can enthuse up an entire country.
Bernie, last time, yes. Now, no.
Man, this is just lame.
10
Nope. He is a fake. Can't you tell in your gut when you listen to him? He would not sign the bill to import drugs made here from Canada but sold for much less to help save the lives of people here who cannot afford to pay the huge mark up. He said they may not be safe, And PS at one time he was second in line with Big Pharma to get the most money they dish out when they buy up politicians. You know the recent story of Bernie going to Canada to get a certain life saving diabetes drug which costs over the counter 35 dollars there and is 350 dollars here? That is how bad Big Pharma is. And Corey has said that he is not taking corporate money for now. I don't blame him. All around him is corruption, and almost everyone plays the game. Almost everyone in DC takes the delicious money that corporations lasso them with. And do as their are told. Very few get into politics for any other reason than the power and money to be made. They mostly do not care about the voters' needs. It is plain silly to debate about most of the candidates and their platforms or so called policies because they are not real, they are just fancy talking points to fool the public into voting for them. Except for the progressives, Bernie and Warren, Ah they mean it, their policies are real and they do serve the voters. Too bad the pundits do not bother to read their policies and instead try to create a fight between these two.
31
Sent my donation in this morning! Go Booker!!
6
Booker is another corporate Democrat. No sale.
24
Michelle:
i usually wholeheartedly agree with your columns but this one disappoints. A lot. Booker is not particularly well liked here in New Jersey, even in Newark. Do some digging. For example: It would be interesting to know how “special” Booker’s relationship is with former governor Chris Christie.... special election and all of that just before a November election at great cost to the state taxpayers. What sausage making went into all of that? What’s Booker ever said about the appalling Chris Christie? (The same might be said of Cuomo, for that matter).
Booker only looks good on paper, for all the reasons you state, but I am confident it’s not substantive heavy duty paper. Don’t build him up as another Obama. He’s not.
41
Please, Michelle, love ya, but check this out more before you anoint this guy. Lived in NJ over 35 years and this guy is all polish and ambition. far too many of your readers can get taken in by this guy because they’re loyal to you. You couldn’t, with all respect, be more off on this guy. He’d eat his father for a vote. Loyal to no one but himself, no matter how good he performs.
6
"He looks like a movie star, and is dating one, the former Bernie Sanders surrogate Rosario Dawson."
Such a shockingly unserious judgment. Either Ms. Goldberg is attracted to Booker and therefore supports him, or she thinks the American electorate is so stupid that they will vote for him because of his looks and his social life. I'm not sure which is worse.
Here's a more substantive problem: Senator Booker was the first senator to co-sponsor the bill to censure the non-violent BDS movement in support of Palestinian civil rights.
And he's in the pocket of Big Pharma: "he received heavy progressive criticism for helping kill a bill sponsored by Sanders to lower drug prices. In 2016, pharmaceutical PACs gave $57,500 to Booker. Becton, Dickinson & Co, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi PACs all contributed $5,000 each in 2016. Before that, in 2014, a cycle he was actually running in, Booker’s campaign took in $161,000 in pharmaceutical PAC money. Pfizer contributed $17,500, Merck & Co gave $12,500 and several more gave $10,000 each."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/live-updates/general-election/fact-checking-the-first-democratic-debate/booker-and-corporate-pace-donations/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a70379009023
That's why not.
30
He won’t win because there is not enough working and middle class white people that would support him over Trump.
3
Booker couldn’t run Newark, NJ; he certainly can’t run the country
19
Were no winners in the last two nights that standard out, but whoever wins has win against Donald Trump in the 2020 election do we forget yester years or pass the first televised presidential debate with Kennedy and Nixon, Kennedy won that debate, or Reagan against Jimmy Carter is still rings out there he goes again but Carter didn't say anything and lost the election, and president Trump against Hillary Clinton where he was dancing around Hillary he should've been on Dancing with the Stars. To run against Trump you have to be on your toes you had to be a fast talker like Mohammed Ali sting like a bee , the Democrats have to move out front go to a training camp and learn how to be a bully that's how you will win the election against Donald Trump. America doesn't like a loser I'm sorry to say they want somebody victorious event the person doesn't have any brains likes Pres..Donald Trump but be on toes.
1
I voted for Cory as senator. But he reeks of the sort of individual who is bright, driven, and now will say and do anything for success.
I don't see a soul.
Does anyone?
28
Never. I was in Newark with him. Amazing orator. But Hollywood girlfriend, vegan lifestyle, questionable middle ground efforts in Newark with a blatant what's good for my political future mindset simply will not draw votes. Smart dude but not a national leader.
9
I think a Sanders/Booker ticket could win the election. You need someone like Sanders to counter punch Trump—he will come right out in the debate and call him what he is—a pathological liar. Together, he and Booker can rally the youth and the black vote to get excited about the election and show up to vote on Election Day.
5
I continue to remain puzzled by how NYT pundits like Goldberg keep continuing to root around for alternatives to Warren. Why? Booker is all hat, no cattle. Just take a look at what he did not do for Newark vs. what he did for himself taking money from the big pharma establishment that is too powerful in New Jersey. And what are his achievements in congress? He may be a media star but everything from his high-profile mayoralty in my hometown, one of the world's worst cities, after his having grown up in the safe suburbs feels as calculated as the mayoralty and military service of Buttigieg. Why do progressives like Warren and Sanders terrify the media? Are you all that centrist?
24
You mean the Rock'em Sock'em robot with the vinyl gold policies? He wouldn't beat trump in a million years, that's what's about him.
7
Frankly, it's the unmarried vegan part. I think.
1
I’m vegan so I can say this: vegans are for the most part really annoying people. You need to supplement or you get weird.
1
Ahhh....no thanks. He is in over his head. In 4 to 8 years if he gets a cabinet spot perhaps. Check back with me then.
4
Because of his cozy relationship with Wall Street.
15
A Cuisinart would be better than Trump.
11
Booker was mayor of Newark.
Have you ever walked the streets of Newark, alone, at night?
Enough said.
3
From up here in New Hampshire, he looks like a man intent on projecting nice-ness and we are spoiling for a not nice man who can ridicule the Trumpness into oblivion.
Even his prepared "drinking the Kool Aide without knowing the flavor" quip was just too cute and nice. (What, exactly did that mean? Still trying to deconstruct that.)
The one problem Obama had is he was too concerned about appearing to be an angry Black man. Show-me-the-money Mitch never worried about appearing angry.
Nor does Trump.
I'd be happy to vote for Booker, but I'd be happy to vote for Mickey Mouse if hew were running against Trump.
Where is Gavin Newsom?
8
All surface
No substance
Ambitious, to a disturbing degree
16
Paying people to procreate at $1,000 per pop doesn’t sound very green to me.
1
Cory Booker, talented as he is, falls under the shadow of the Obama years. America's deep well of racism surfaced during those years - the provoking idea of a Black President!! - and as DJT well knows, it is still flowing like an oil leak. Maybe in another 8 years Booker could win. But not now.
3
Biden IS a stumbler and a bumbler. He has trouble justifying his record, which is very long, plenty of ammunition to be used against him. He comes off like a doddering old man. There's NO WAY he can successfully take on Trump. No. Way. If we to want to win we cannot run Biden. Booker may be just the ticket.
3
On the morning of Wednesday November 5, 2020 millions of Democrats will be wondering why they lost the presidential election. Save this article along with many other similar NYT op-eds. It will give you the answer. The comments will also be enlightening.
4
Please list your age and race when you reply saying you’d let him be Vice President, or that he’s too much like Obama. Thanks.
5
bought by charter schools, big pharma; just another gentrifying neolib
19
Perhaps you should delve into his term as mayor of Newark, particularly with the police department and school system.
9
Because he talks the most and says the least...of substance.
18
Michelle, you answered your own question. Booker is a neo-liberal posing as a progressive. He’s been a tool of Wall Street as well as the pharmaceutical and charter school industries. While the Mayor of Newark, one of his BFF’s was Chris Christie. Booker and Christie, in unison, used $100 billion from Mark Zuckerberg to “reform” the schools. It was an abject failure. Booker is a corporatist/privatizer at heart. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!
29
No mystery why Booker hasn’t “caught on” - he’s a phony. He’s an upper middle class kid masquerading as a man of the people, an Ivy League style scholar who would like people to think he’s from the ‘hood in Newark. Despite his tenure as Mayor, Newark is as bad as it ever was, crime ridden, decrepit and a place people don’t want to go to after dark. Schools are generally a disaster. Full disclosure: I live one town away and am in Newark often. As NJ senator he has done exactly....nothing, even compared to Menendez, another Democrat story all together. Thanks, but no thanks.
23
Warren/Booker or Harris/Booker
1
He looks like a movie star and was named social media superhero in 2010. His environmental record is not as good as Gillibrand‘s but his criminal justice record is better than Kamala’s. He is no better than Warren in anything.
Did I miss any reason “why not Cory?”
2
Why not? Because aside from being intelligent and glib, he lacks substance. He is a showboater pure and simple who is skillful attaches himself to the latest trends until he goes on to the next one. Please spare me.
19
Regarding presidential and vice presidential candidates, the old cliche rings true: "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line." With that in mind, I invite you to join me in my search for love.
Possible Democratic Ticket
Biden / Harris
Warren / Buttigieg
Warren / Yang
Warren / Castro
Sanders / Klobuchar
Sanders / Castro
Booker / Klobuchar
1
@poodlefree
Of the above combinations, I like Biden/Harris & Warren/Buttigieg, or Buttigieg/Warren.
Other combinations may not work.
In 2008, Barack Obama was exceptionally popular. Whites enthusiastically voted for him. That enthusiasm faded soon, followed by loss of House. He barely got reelected. After another 4 years, whites in general lost their interest in Obama. But they wouldn't say so.
Now the chances for a person of color on top of the ticket to get elected have dimmed substantially. Hence Castro, Yang & Booker have very little chance. But Harris as VP may work, energizing minorities & women.
Warren's somewhat radical ideas may turn off voters. You should bring them up after you get elected. She's impressive, nevertheless. I would say promote centrist/center-left candidates, to capture maximum number of votes.
Donald Trump is still quite popular with his base & opportunist Republicans. It's quite difficult to beat him in 2020.
1
I’m in the Warren/Castro camp. I think Booker is inspiring and heartfelt. We need some of those type people in the Senate to balance out the buttheads from Kentucky and Texas.
Corey is polished and articulate but a significant weakness nationally is that he is an unfamiliar politician to many and perhaps worse, is the perception that he lacks sincerity and authenticity. Biden, on the other hand, is defensive precisely because he is being attacked non-stop by every other candidate so the "how do you respond to that other candidate's criticism of you, Senator Biden" by debate moderators sucks up a majority of his debate time. Going after both Biden and Obama is a dangerous strategy by the other candidates and could easily strengthen Biden's support among those moderates who pine for Obama. The bigger trap for many of the other progressive candidates is not that they talk about health care but that they are pushing the Medicare For All plan with no details on how it will be implemented, paid for and received by the 180 million Americans content to keep their employer provided . coverage or the health insurers employing hundreds of thousands people directly or indirectly. Furthermore, no one is talking about health care providers like doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc who will all likely be taking big pay cuts since Medicare negotiated rates are often much lower than private insurance ones. Those "devilish" details, real or manufactured by skilled lobbyists representing those groups opposed to universal health care, will all but guarantee another term for Trump. Moderate and familiar Biden is looking better every day. Washington doesn't do "bold"
2
Joe Biden has always been a gaffe machine. He seems like a great guy, a great family member, and s great buddy. Biden has a LOT of history with mistakes along the way to overcome.
Question: Why not Cory Booker?
Answer[s]: Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders/
16
Can anyone imagine that Obama would have delivered that Kool-Aid line? Says all you need to know about Booker.
24
Booker cannot win.
9
Why not Julián Castro?
7
Never, it’s a vote for Trump. I like him but he’s got to realize he needs more than Latinos to get to second base. Have not heard a word about helping anyone but immigrants, as much as they need help. Playing only to his base like condon with his.
1
Why not Bernie Sanders??
7
Why not Cory Booker? Reparations?
3
Big No to Spartacus!
He voted against getting scripts filled in Canada...oh! Big Pharma donated to his campaign!
He brought the worst Ed Reformers to Newark and hired Giuliani’s former cops!
He’s a sweet talker. Notice how he goes over his time at Congressional hearings. Media hog!
10
Do we really need Spartacus?
3
What Booker did to the schools in Newark, along with Zuckerburg and Christie, absolutely disqualifies him to be president. He's just another pol feeding out of the trough of Corporate America. A big phony who is not to be trusted. I can't believe you wrote this, Michelle!
18
Have you read Dale Rusakoff's book The Prize about Newark's schools and Booker's role? I couldn't support him after reading this excellent book.
10
@dianaz I have! I use in in one of my graduate courses.
Cory railed into Biden for deportations during the Obama era.
Are you kidding me?
6
I like him, but I believe the argument for the improbability of his actual ascent to the presidency is something like, America’s eaten its veggies once by electing Obama, thus we’re cleansed of the obligation to elect another black man.
1
Veggies are delicious and nutritious. You don’t eat vegetables once and eat French fries for the rest of your life.
2
@Summer Smith
Of course, but there is research that shows that people “reward” themselves with junk food or treats, as a response to the “virtuousness” of diet and exercise. Apply.
I’ve been supporting Booker since day one. I agree that’s it’s a conundrum why he isn’t more popular. I hope people will give him a second look. I think he could beat Trump if the hard-left would get over their Bernie love affair.
3
He's winning the debates? I think you could make a case for a win last night but not the previous one. That round went to Kamala. So he's at .500 right now. I would like to see him get to the second round because I think he has something to add to the conversation but he's not my choice. Where are his plans? What's he going to do?
Warren/Booker?
1
Something just doesn't seem right about Booker. He may be a good showman and talker, but his rhetoric can be shallow and contrived. He's no Obama. Or even close.
220
@Trajan Thank you, I couldn't agree more. Deep down inside, he's really superficial.
27
@Trajan Also, Obama had the advantage of a charming, attractive wife he clearly adored and 2 darling kids when he decided to run. Fair or not, people love happy families.
9
You are more insightful than Ms. Goldberg. Thank you.
14
I do not support Booker because I think he would be like Obama. We do not need another corporate Democrat no matter his/her race. Nibbling around the edges while singing Kumbaya will not put this country on the right track. New ways of thinking about problems is what is needed. Not the same old, same old with minor tweaks.
I support Warren because she has a plan for that. A plan that will benefit non-rich American citizens. I also believe that she is completely incorruptible. Bonus points for being a woman.
I will vote for whomever is the Democratic nominee. At this point, I believe a limburger sandwich on rye would be a better President than DJT, so I'll fully support the Party nominee, but am doing all I can to ensure that Warren is the Party's choice.
623
@Elaine
Perhaps you forget that, other than the ACA, everything that President Obama tried was decimated by Moscow Mitch McConnell. I would prefer Obama/Biden over any combination of the above listed group. But I will vote for anyone the dems nominate.
117
@ Elaine
"I do not support Booker because I think he would be like Obama. We do not need another corporate Democrat no matter his/her race".
Oh dear, please pray tell why you consider President Obama as having been "another corporate Democrat".
Obama was a deep thinker, while Booker looks like a wannabe TV star and seems to talk in platitudes.
53
Thankfully many of the candidates do resemble linberger sandwiches. They smell and are neither popular nor palatable.
Booker is All surface
No substance
Ambitious, to a disturbing degree
46
I cannot figure out why certain candidates are getting a lot of support in the polls and others aren't. I would think candidates like Booker and Gillibrand would be getting much more support than they are. I don't understand the high poll numbers for Biden. I think Inslee has a great campaign with the climate crisis at hand but he is getting hardly any support. Warren is the one candidate whose growing support makes the most sense to me. I don't believe Booker is trusted by progressives but I could see where he has the potential to energize Democrats. He could be a good alternative to Biden who as far as I can see has no hope of energizing any segment of the Democratic Party.
257
@nom de guerre I may have missed it but seems Inslee did not stress enough how climate change IS everything.
He mentioned but didn't stress quite enough the jobs a Green Deal would create, but more importantly, the COST of all the ongoing extreme climate disasters the country has & will continue to deal with. And health issues it causes (and those costs to citizens).
The 'average Joe' may not be connecting the dots to how much every aspect of our lives these climate issues negatively effect ultimately.
26
@nom de guerre Correct. And we are all in massive denial about that.
17
@Bob
Gillibrand hasn't connected and won't because she assassinated Al Franken who would have been the best candidate.
132
As a New Jersey resident who has had the privilege over the last few years to converse with Cory Booker a couple of times, and as a well-educated and I think discerning liberal, I am convinced that Booker is, indeed, the "real deal." I came home from meeting him the first time and posted that I hoped I would live to see him as President. He remains my number one choice now.
415
@prickly I always liked him, and have been puzzled by his low standing in the polls. I hope this debate performance gives him a bump.
31
I think Booker is great. Articulate, experienced, appealing personality, sensible policies.
My concern is largely that Trump has so inflamed white racists across the country, especially in the Midwest, the South, and rural areas, that I don’t think Booker could win.
Perhaps the country is better off with him in the Senate??!!
9
@Kathy
Not everyone should be running for president, we have to win the senate and get rid of Mitch.
What does Booker have to offer, I am still trying to figure out why the country is going to follow him. I don't care how much education he has, is he going to help everyone or just his inner circle that represents corporate democrats. We have a surplus of those candidates, who know best on both sides.
1
He uses religiosity messaging, and that is just not going to fly with me after suffering through decades of religion used as cudgels attacking civil rights and basic human decency.
I would be happy going to my grave if I never heard another religious word uttered by a politician.
Corey is also not an overly disciplined critical thinker. I admire him. I admire his stances and ethics and compassion and tolerance. But given our wonderful breadth and depth of choices, I would much rather have him in the Senate, fighting tooth and nail against the Republic domestic enemies. He would make a fiery and effective Senate minority leader. He could attract strong Senate candidates, and he could be the one to flip the Senate.
443
@aek
*Cory
*Republican
Apologies - I seem to have read what I wanted to see instead of what I typed.
@aek
I agree that Booker will sere the country better as a US Senator. The same goes for Harris. She will serve the nation and the party better in the Senate.
12
Cory Booker...the man who voted against allowing drugs imported from Canada and then repeated the opposition statement issued by Pharma lobbyists? Who then claimed to vote for a bill to reduce drug costs, failing to mention that it had no enforcement measures?
NO THANKS!
18
The first time I head Obama speak was when he did the speech at the 2004 convention. I and millions of others were beyond inspired--blown away. I thought, "that guy's going to be president some day."
Cory Booker is a smart guy, qualified, good looking. African-American to boot. I've heard him speak multiple times.
And he's never inspired me. I think that's what people want right now.
Booker sounds rehearsed. Whether it's I am Spartacus, the Kool aid line, or "I learn from the past" it sounds like he's been practicing for days.
Everybody practices. But it's just--no spark. At least for me.
535
@Talbot
I was at my niece's graduation from Penn State and Mr. Booker gave the commencement speech. I consider myself a cynic, had no previous positive Booker bias, and his talk about love and life blew me away. That man brought tears to my eyes. And I'm a old preppie raised in Greenwich, Ct. He may be moving to fast for some, but he most definitely has spark, whether it lights your fire of not.
59
@Talbot. I attended my daughter’s graduation at George Washington where Booker was the commencement speaker. I suppose some might call it inspiring, but to me it was a sermon. And he talked too long — ok, he’s a pol — but after it was over, I couldn’t really tell you what he had to say. A lot of nothing.
27
@Talbot
Yes, all true.
And then there's that Wall Street stench that lingers around him and a few of the others, too.
35
There's something I don't like about Cory Booker besides his killing of the Canadian drug importation measure a few years back--he's also a big taker from the pharmaceutical industry.
The phony sincerity and grandstanding is just too much for me.
9
I am not going to vote for anyone who endorses an open border and reparations. That seems to be where most of the Democratic candidates are heading, including Booker, and that is why Trump will win again in 2020, much to my disgust.
5
Thanks for this. Feel the same way. Smart, passionate, Plays well with Wall Street and Newark's streets. But his delivery is a bit "hot." May sound a little too angry for Iowa and NH. And not getting much traction even with African Americans, perhaps for that reason.
2
Booker is a very smart guy and an able politician. As you say, he looks good on paper. I'll vote for him if he is the Democratic candidate. My problem with him is that he always seems to be yelling. It feels like he's not so much talking to me as beating me up.
1
Because he's seen to be a rank opportunist and something of a phony -- more devoted to Cory Booker, than the nation.
The sincerity and the outrage, so carefully cultivated, don't appear to be real. Hectoring a witness with "LGBT" doesn't make anyone virtuous.
This is hardly new among politicians, but he's among the less skilled actors in the game.
8
He is a show boater like the 6 year old we have in the White House now. He is not serious. He lies about his past record in Newark and frankly, while I think he is an OK guy, not qualified to be president.
Remember the performance he put on during the Kavanaugh hearings? Mr. Spartacus - it was beyond embarrassing.
8
I can't warm up to Cory Booker. His presentation is bombastic & intense. I've had enough of bombastic and intense. If he could learn to respond to 40 watts when given 40 watts, rather than respond to everything with the same 100 watt slam, maybe he'd have my attention. But frankly, he is for me a bore.
6
Cory is identity politics for 2020. No thanks. We deserve better than his brand of bias.
8
He tries so hard to appear authentic, that to me he comes off as inauthentic. I am not crazy about his ties to Big Phamra and some of his other connections. Most of the other Dems seem pretty real to me, or at least as real as you can seem in the limited settings in which we see the candidates. Booker, not so much.
9
I hate to say it the only thing holding him back is the color of his skin. He comes across as a well informed skillful debater. A good sense of humor with street smarts. Strong enough and smart enough to take out Trump. Energize the Obama coalition.Gain the support of the disappointed Trump voters. Let Trump have the insecure white voters and the very fine people who adore the team of Duke and Trump. Booker would be an inspiring choice after the very dark Trump years.
4
Cory needs a wife to yell at him about forgetting to take out the trash, putting down the toilet seat, buying flowers for a special occasion, and those other wonderfully endearing things that keep men who love women humbled.
My wife, who I love with all my heart, keeps me in line.
And, I'm a better man for it.
4
Have you seen the clip of him defending Wall Street like he's Jimmy Stewart pleading for the savings and loan?
6
Booker does like a president. Joe Biden said it himself on the debate stage last night. I also read that at Oxford many of his fellow Rhodes Scholars including the now Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman believed they were looking at a future President of the United States. Supposedly Feldman pointed at him to make the prophesy.
What more could we want? Tall, powerfully built, Stanford football, Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law grad, former Mayor of Newark, still lives in Newark, U.S. Senator from Jersey with immense political and social skills. A NICE GUY.
And he won the last debate. We will have to see where he goes in the polls. That looks like the only sticking point, the polls. He is a post Obama black man, so I don't think there is a mad emotional rush to support his candidacy.
I would say his presentation skills are probably his weakness. I've seen him use Martin Luther King tropes- not good. He big man but he doesn't have a big stentorian voice. Give him Bernie Sanders fog horn modified by Booker's gentility and there you have it- the man to replace Trump. Let us see if he moves in the polls.
3
Booker strikes me as inauthentic. I would feel better about him if he had spent more time as mayor of Newark, and actually accomplished something. (Hard, I know: It's Newark.) To me, he was transparently using the job to climb up the political ladder. Warren is smarter and a better politician.
8
Cory needs a wife to yell at him about forgetting to take out the trash, putting down the toilet seat, buying flowers for a special occasion, and those other wonderfully endearing things that keep men who love women humbled.
My wife, who I love with all my heart, keeps me in line.
And, I'm a better man for it.
Nope. Too many friends on Wall St. Also a big supporter of charter schools that those friends are using to destroy public schools.
7
Booker is a Democrat for Education Reform (DFER). He fell in line with hedge fund managers who want to profit off the public school system. That is poison to public school supporters like me.
11
I like Cory Booker, but I'll repeat the substance of what I said in response to Frank Bruni's piece: I'm waiting for candidates to figure out how to pivot onto Trump & Republicans. Please use these debates to show how they would attack Trump - that is what most of the base wants to see and vote for.
3
So glad you wrote this piece because I have been baffled too, especially after I had the good fortune to meet him personally in a depressed New Hampshire mill town on Mother’s Day— with his mother in tow. (What a guy!) He inspires, he has depth, and he said his campaign wasn’t going to waste time on attacking Trump, but, instead put forth ideas. He is a champ.
4
Cory Booker can't win. The sad reality is after 8 years of president Obama, a person of color on top of the ticket would be too unattractive to white voters, including white Democrats.
Look at the crime-ridden, blighted inner-city areas everywhere. They remain that way because of white majority's indifference and contempt towards blacks.
If they, including a majority of white Democrats really care about blacks, if they aren't contemptuous of blacks, they could improve, if not eliminate that. As long as the crimes are confined to black, & or brown areas, they just don't care, especially because they aren't contributing to it.
Donald Trump blurts out that contempt. Others keep it to themselves. Because of those reasons they just would not vote for a black or nonwhite Hispanic to be president. Obama was a totally different specimen, a star. They might vote for Oprah too, but not for ordinary black/nonwhite leaders - stars come on the scene extremely rarely.
Trump is not an ordinary white leader. It may pain to believe that he is a STAR with great luster. His mental impediment, which is not that apparent makes him a buffoon. And they ridicule him for entertainment. But average (white) people like him to be their president. They will continue to overlook his weaknesses - read Katy Tur's book. Unless the Democrats nominate a strong enough Joe Biden-like candidate, Trump will be reelected, even if the economy tanks. Steve Bullock & Pete Buttigieg have a good chance.
1
Mr. Trump will eviscerate Booker should he become the democratic nominee. America is not ready for another experiment.
Your aricle talks much about what Cory Booker is - articulate, Rhodes Scholar, etc. What lacking is what he has accomplished. I've heard him complain about the conditions of the schools in Newark - but he was the mayor!! What did he do to make it better. I'm sure he's co-sponsored a number of bills in the Senate, but what is he known for?? He has everything but accomplishments, and that's the issue. Looks good, sounds good - but has no identity with any accomplishments. That's the issue.
5
I was originally interested in Cory Booker. He has good charisma. Two things for me: his weird “radical love” pitch, and his performance during the Kavanaugh nomination. I cannot overstate how angry I am that Kavanaugh is on the SC. But Booker’s “I am Spartacus” moment was dishonest, contrived, and silly. He can’t out-perform Donald Trump.
3
I like Booker, too.
However, I like Pete Buttigieg more.
Why not go with your first choice instead of compromising?
How about a team of Pete/Corey would meet all the needs of the majority of voters and also assure us of the best future for America and the world.
1
I think his failure is simply what is called in show biz Presence. Harris, Sanders, Buttigieg and Warren have more of it.
4
Huh? Booker was on stage last night? Hardly noticed. He said nothing I found interesting. Michelle, your op-ed says lots of things about Booker but nothing of substance and nothing that truly impresses me. (Being a reality TV star is hardly a good thing. Consider Trump.) Booker comes off as Yet Another Sleazy Politician to me. He'll say whatever he was coached to say to win, but he doesn't really represent me and my fellow citizens.
Is my quality of life going to be better under him? Will the cost of living be less? Can I finally focus on the people I love rather than always desperately trying to find and keep a job? I doubt Booker really fights for people like me.
And why'd you mentioned that he was a vegan?! There you go giving me yet another reason not to vote for him.
Why Cory Booker?
3
I was turned off by how soft and deferential he was in his questioning of Brett Kavanaugh.
4
I'm a part-time NJ resident. Booker's popularity here is modest. Some see him as an opportunist. He's connected with me less well than Senator Menendez. I write to both senators a few times each year on professional matters. Menendez usually responds. Booker, not as much.
8
I like Corey a lot but as you say his Wall Street ties can be used against him by everyone. Including Biden and especially Warren.
2
I shall vote for the candidate with policies closest to Hugo Chavez’
Hugo Chavez did so much to promote and deliver equality in Venezuela. Now they are all starving equally. Viva equality!
4
Why not Cory Booker, because folks 55 or older in PA and WI won't vote for him. They will vote for Biden. Simple as that.
5
Meh. Cory Booker is a phony who loves charters and corporate money. Don’t buy into Booker’s cult of personality that plays with some in NY. He’s a politician through and through. Trump would gore him in a national election, conflate him with Newark. Trump would tell America that a vote for Booker is a vote to make America Newark, and equally corrupt. He’d call him “Corrupt Cory” or something, and it would stick. That would be Booker’s political epitaph.
7
Booker won't catch on.
He speaks well, articulates, is smart and a good person....but he comes across as somewhat arrogant and a do gooder..it casts aside too many people.....as I like to say Booker believes his own drama. It's almost like he is auditioning for a part...it's too staged. The average voter cannot relate......He will not be the nominee
6
One reason Booker might be under performing in the polls is racial prejudice. Obama is only half-black. His biracial heritage gave voters the fluidity to read in him whatever they wanted to see. Strictly speaking though, Obama is not black American. Not in any traditional sense. Not like Booker.
A more simple explanation though is prejudice of a different sort. Quite frankly: Most Americans hold a grudge against New Jersey. I know. I grew up there. You will inevitably encounter "Dirty Jerz" and "What Exit?" jokes wherever you go. The stereotyping only goes downhill from there.
Our major urban cities takes most of the brunt. Places like Newark, Elizabeth, Camden, and the Oranges. Not surprisingly these are also extremely diverse and complicated places. I used to deliver sandwiches in Newark, Bloomfield, and the Oranges. These places are complicated. You need a history lesson just to read a street map.
Living and working in other places though? Most Americans tend to form a negative bias about New Jersey without ever having been there. They think they have it figured out from an airport. Trust me: There is A LOT about New Jersey you don't know. Even if you think you know, you don't.
The strange thing is people don't even realize they're doing it. I had a co-worker just last week learn I was from Jersey. I was subjected to a "harrowing adventure" about New Jersey transit. Nice person. Just trying to be relatable but wow!
That's what Booker is up against.
3
Animal lovers - pay attention, and VOTE! Booker would expand upon NJ State Sen's Nosey's Law!
Ms. Goldberg - Inslee cannot claim to be an environmentalist unless he breeches the dam holding back the salmon that would feed the starving orcas in Washington waters. Inslee is afraid of the fisheries lobby, and he would rather have the orcas die then defy the fishermen.
6
@PrairieFlax Dams don’t hold back salmon when fish ladders are installed and the spawning habitat is properly conserved. There are real issues in ocean management and Inslee, like most politicians, is far from ideal, but we should stick to the facts here. A sustainable fishery is in everyone’s interest, including the orcas’.
Why not Steve Bullock?
- Clearly appeals to cross-over voters and middle-Americans.
- Can take on Trump face-to-face.
- Focuses on critical issue: campaign funding
4
Booker lost me when started pandering to the far left (which will never support him anyway). Just another hack who will say anything to be elected.
6
I'd love to what Ms. Goldberg defines "winning 'debates'".
That said, Booker's too much of a lightweight, gets easily flustered, and says goofy/silly things ("'I am Sparticus' moment" comes to mind). Which means trump would eat his lunch.
6
The problem with so many commentators seems to be that there are so many really good candidates seeking the Democratic nomination that they find fault with most all of them.
Kinda like looking at a box of candy and complaining because the one chosen doesn’t have nuts or caramel.
People, compare most all of them to the guy in the Oval. Then complain.
1
Why not Cory Booker - Why not Corey Feldman? He's got as much, if not, better chance than Sen. Booker of becoming President.
2
Biden is the worst choice the Democrats could make,he's simply an opportunist,he has always been on the wrong side of history before he of course changed his mind,he blocked Anita Hill's witnesses from appearing before a congressional hearing that he was presiding which he now says he regrets,he was pro Iraq war before he wasn't,,helped write a law that imprisoned more and more people now he minimizes his role,he is the perfect opportunist
5
Got to hand him one thing - he knew to get out of his mayoral gig before running...
Not soon enough, though - judging by several of the comments...
4
Sadly Corey Booker is pro charter school and anti teacher. I’m voting with the teachers this time around!
4
Why not Tom Steyer?
We’re it not for him, the Dems, and most of America, would have really been too spineless to impeach that guy, number one.
Number two, as a nation, we still have our heads in the sand about climate change. If the next president doesn’t do something very dramatic over two terms to address this issue, we are doomed.
Tom plans to refocus a big chuck of the economy toward saving the planet and will declare a national state of emergency on day one.
Plus, his money makes him beholden only to the welfare of the American people.
2
Why not Cory Booker is an interesting question.
Unfortunately, I'm not closer to answering Why or Why not Cory Booker after this column, which tells me absolutely nothing useful about Cory Booker.
C'mon, Times, step up the analysis and stop the gossip/horse-race coverage for one election cycle in my lifetime.
4
How many of the negative commenters here walk the walk like Booker does? He didn't take up stakes and desert his neighborhood as virtually every Congressional politician does.
3
OK, Booker's on life support and Goldberg's throwing him a line.
Maybe it'll work, maybe not. Regardless, he deserves another chance to prove himself. Fair enough. The bottom line remains:
Who can slay the mythical dragon and restore what's left of our democracy. Right now, Booker's got more doubts about who he really is and what voters believe he is.
Anyone but Trump. Whatever that takes.
1
Biden pretty much answered Michelle's question when he took apart Booker's record last night.
Also, do we need another camera hogging reality TV show star as president? He was right there on stage behind Gillibrand when she called for Al Franken to resign.
He looked silly with his "Spartacus" moment during the Kavanaugh hearing.
And, he is the equivalent of the anti-Obama candidate.
I doubt he would get the black voter support that Hillary received.
3
Bullock.
Center-left.
Red state (let's not discount this).
Not elitist.
4
I want to like Corey Booker but he comes off as very insincere. He always sounds so rehearsed.
5
Booker might beat trump if he were white and not as progressive. He does make his points without fighting with others. His chances? I’m happy to see him address many crucial issues but not so keen on his policy fixes. Now I understand he dates Rosario Dawson who is kept out of sight. But why? Because she’s brown skinned and Latina?
Showmanship can't win the nomination. He already referred to himself as Spartacus. I'm exhausted with any figure who loves the sound of his own voice. I don't need to taste or drink any of The Cory Booker Kool Aid
3
I’m totally there with you on Booker. To me he is the perfect candidate. There seems to be this unsubstantiated distrust of him, if my reading of previous NYT comments is any barometer. But it’s generally people thinking he’s not genuine, which is just not the case. And to be a non-hypocritical environmentalist, you really do need to be a vegan. He is the alternative moderate to Joe Biden and can beat Warren in the primary. My 3rd donation to Booker is on its way.
2
Michelle Goldberg writes:
"Sure, I understand why he’s viewed with suspicion by large parts of the populist left. In the past he’s reaped financial support from Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry. His style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism, symbolized by the $200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools, is very much out of fashion. His proposal for baby bonds — payments of $1,000 for newborns, with further annual payments for low-income children to help them build a nest egg by adulthood — is an excellent way to reduce the racial wealth gap, but it doesn’t take aim at the increasingly overweening power of the ultra-wealthy."
You answered your own question as to why Corey Booker has not caught on. He is a major tool of the corporate industry. Moreover, he is opportunistic, filled with blind personal ambition of the Nixonian sort and simply cannot not be trusted. In short, it is all about In short, it is all about
Corey Booker. Period! No thanks!
6
I am concerned about his response to a group of young Jewish voters who asked him at a town hall about what he would do to end the Israeli occupation. His reply was, “I’m not your candidate” The status quo is acceptable to him.
1
I come from New Jersey. I am a Democrat. I voted for Obama twice and for Clinton. I normally vote for Democrats in our state but could not pull the lever for Melendez, because he was so obviously corrupt But Corey Booker is the least impressive politician I have seen in my state in a long time. He has accomplished very little except trying to burnish his reputation. From shoveling a neighbors sidewalk in a snow storm to rescuing cats in a tree, he is a small bore politician who thrives on photo ops. You seem to be on a crusade to bring Biden down. Why?
8
I'm sorry, but the "coalition that carried Barack Obama to victory" wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit. It completely evaporated in 2010 and 2014. It may have re-elected him in 2012, but it also re-elected a Republican congress that year. The man spent most of his 8 years mouldering around the oval office whining about how little we appreciated him when he wasn't otherwise dithering over what to do next. What little legacy he left behind has now been mostly swept away. That's what you get with the Obamas and Cory Bookers of the world: inflated rhetoric and sentimental speeches that make you feel good in the short term, while Mitch McConnell runs the show.
3
The "vegan part" which you so flippantly sweep under the rug is actually a primary selling point to a small but vocal minority. Many of us who detest the inhumane treatment of animals struggle giving our votes to people who consume animal products. His veganism is telling of a deeper compassion, one the current environment sorely lacks. Booker has my vote because he is a vegan and for this fact alone.
144
@Tom Peters
A vegan diet is also good for the environment, which is truly our largest issue. I like Booker and wish he would focus more on climate change.
15
@Tom Peters I hear ya Tom. What is with Progressives dissing people over a perfectly reasonable life choice? Next it'll be Atheists or surfers. Who cares if it's not 'mainstream', Liberals live and let live.
13
@Tom Peters If Booker, The Vegan gets nominated, I will go out for a big juicy burger before voting for Trump.
There are probably more people like me than in your minority.
2
I'll tell you why: he's not going to carry any of the battleground states needed to defeat Trump. Many cite Obama, as evidence you run to the left (of Hillary in 08) and win the general, omitting a very cogent fact: the financial collapse gift wrapped the election to the democrats, similar to Carter going against Ford, then add McCain admitting "the economy is not my strong point" and add then adds VP who knows less than he admitted to. This is reality the writer seems to forget. Trump is much stronger than many believe & Booker is not going to be President this cycle.
4
Goldberg makes an interesting comparison with the 2007 race, but I think she makes a mess of the analysis. She claims that the 23 point margin between Booker and Biden is the same as the one between Hillary and Obama at this point in 2007.
Here are the 2007 numbers:
Hillary: 48%
Obama: 26%
Edwards: 12%
And the 2019 numbers:
Biden: 26 %
Booker: 3%
The difference is that Obama was second in a field of 3 with half of Hillary's support. Booker is 7th in a field of 20 with one eighth of Biden's support. The number of candidates is far larger than 10 years ago, perhaps because of Citizens United.
I think that anybody polling less than 10% at the minute is doomed. I think that the large size of the field makes it impossible for lesser known candidates to break out. It has become a four person race.
I also think Booker looks good on paper but I suspect that any post debate bounce will be too small to save his campaign.
Submitted 20.58 EST Aug 1
4
Booker has consistently put pharmaceutical company contributions over the lives of ordinary Americans. That's why not Corey Booker.
10
Corey and Mayor Pete would be an amazing combo.
2
@Peter B but pete should be prez....smarter than all of them.
You write the populist left is not the majority of the Democratic party and Booker could ignite the former Obama coalition.
Well...an argument can be made that Obama initially ran, and was elected, as a left populist then on inauguration literally abandoned his coalition and moved center right.
So, the point is YES, a candidate can appeal to the populist left and win. We just need them to stay there when governing.
14
People just don’t get excited for Booker in the way that they were for Obama, for Trump, for Bernie. Andrew Yang is the only one who comes close among the current democratic candidates.
6
Aspiring candidates need to take a lesson from Obama. Certainly not the only reason, but much of the reason President Obama remains so popular is because of his eloquence in speech and his complete lack of any need to get ahead by putting others down. You don’t hear him making snarky remarks to opponents just to get a round of applause and move up the ladder a few points by winning the favor of a small group of those who think incivility is the way to get ahead. President Obama became president because the country badly needed someone with his wide-breadth of knowledge, sincere commitment to making America better for all, and his ability to put forth a plan and explain policy without making snarky remarks about opponents. Being a tough negotiator (or debater) is not synonymous with being rude and demeaning toward others. For the zillions of debaters hoping to win the Democratic nomination, you need to know that a lot of us are not voting for you if all we are going to get is a junior Trump where the best you can do is put someone down in order to get laughter and applause. We need someone who can unite the county.
8
Booker exudes some kind of belief that he is owed something, that he is entitled to something, that by sheer force of slickness, rhetorical sleight of hand, and unspoken victim-hood, that he can slip and slide into some form of legitimate candidacy.
He doesn't seem to understand that he's not running for mayor of Newark. What is the strongest possible argument he can give why voters in Pennsylvania or Indiana should vote for him? If he can't give a simple straight answer to that then HE is drinking is own Kool-Aid.
10
Honestly, I he's not my favorite - although he's moving up - but, regardless, I don't see a single one of the qualities you ascribe to him. You're observations differ so markedly from any of mine or any other criticisms of him I have heard or read that I wonder, is this more about you?
3
@Trajan
What is different about Booker that makes you assume these things?
I thought the problem with Booker raising money or the Newark schools was not that he got it from plutocrats but that he never showed any interest in making sure the money was well spent and so this incredible and much needed largesse for his city was frittered away.
11
OK, you convinced me. I'm in. I am definitely one of those looking for someone other than Biden to be the center-left candidate. Booker has great stage presence, he comes off well.
8
If elected, Cory Booker would be our first unmarried president. I'm mystified that I haven't heard anything that suggests he might have proposals to help the most overlooked constituency in the US - singles. Have you ever heard politicians talk about anything other than "working families"? Us singles are way overtaxed, and simultaneously disadvantaged financially. And we are constantly ignored. Politicians are missing out on a huge voting bloc. This could help him stand out from the crowd. Warren might "have a plan for that", but only if you are a traditional "family".
5
@SATX Maybe singles are overlooked because they (usually) belong to a family even if they don't have one of their own,,,
1
Not so.
James Buchanon was a lifelong bachelor.
Booker was sued by the ACLU, for his overly aggressive tactics against crime. But during the debate, he portrayed that, as the ACLU complimenting him for his work.
Booker is disingenuous at best. Not a good candidate.
14
It's not just that Booker takes money from big finance: he's also pushed their interests,and even advised progressives that critiquing big bankers is mean. It's not just that he's a fan of ed reform. In Newark, Booker handed big money to consultants, left public schools underfunded, instituted a widely denounced school assignment model, and actively ignored teachers except to disparage them. So unpopular were his school proposals that Newark elected a high school principal who spoke against them their next Mayor.
I think voters want and deserve accurate and complete information about candidates. No choice is perfect. But downplaying Booker's flaws does no one any favors.
16
"His style of technocratic, market-friendly liberalism, symbolized by the $200 million he raised from various plutocrats to remake Newark’s schools, is very much out of fashion."
It's not how he raised the money that's problematic, Ms. Goldberg. It's that no one can account for where it all went, and that the schools it was intended to improve are pretty much as they were before the money came in. They're certainly not $200 million better.
Cory Booker is a bright man. He's principled, passionate and eloquent. I could listen to him speak all day, and of course if he's the nominee I'll vote for him. He's generally a good senator for my state, though his transparent ambition (I know, I know... show me a politician who isn't transparently ambitious) is a turn-off. Based on his stint as Mayor of Newark -- a job he was so eager to ditch for the ailing Frank Lautenberg's senate seat that he jumped the gun and declared his senate run before Lautenberg announced he wouldn't seek re-election!) -- I'm not at all sure he has the administrative and organizational chops we're looking for.
22
Cory Booker would do a credible job. The Democratic field of candidates is deep. I am not willing to commit to any one candidate yet.
5
I am open to Cory.
BUT Bernie, in the debate, dropped something I CANNOT BELIEVE the media isn't talking about.
CRIMINALIZING CORPORATES WHO IGNORE THE REALITIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
MAJOR.
21
I really like Cory Booker. I have for years. But he feels very much like a Clinton-era Democrat to me. It feels like he's been trained to follow the old-school fundraising playbook: talk progressive values, then behind closed doors play nice with Wall Street and line up some big donors, then vote against a bill that will rein in prescription drug prices to please your donors, then talk progressive values.
The funny thing is -- I think he would have been a front-runner 8 or 12 years ago. He's smart, charming, and knows how to play both sides. But many Democrats right now are done with corporate candidates who play to the center on policy. The passion right now is behind Bernie and Warren and AOC. Among my progressive friends, Booker's vote not to restrict prescription drug prices continues to haunt him -- they see him as a sell-out, a corporate guy. And this just isn't the 1990s anymore, when personal charm could outweigh taking tons of money from Wall Street. (I'm looking at you, Buttigieg.) The progressives don't think they can trust him. And I don't think you win without the progressive vote (though I also don't think you can win with exclusively the progressive vote.)
26
Agree! I donated this morning! I am amazed at the negative comments by those who believe they have a total grasp of Booker’s motivations, inner life, etc. without having had a single personal interaction with him.
12
@MG
How many of the candidates are people going to have a personal interaction with this election season? And even if the answer is "everyone," exchanging niceties at a diner photo op hardly qualifies as a basis for judging a candidate.
2
Living in NJ for thirty-five years, I know how he works, all too well. Did nothing but hurt Newark and lucked into Frank Lautenberg’s senate seat. I can’t think of one good thing he has done for NJ. If you have any examples, would like to know what. The guy is smart, good-looking and smooth in person. But he only cares about advancing his career. He would not make a good president and he’s definitely no Obama.
1
I think Booker has charisma, intelligence, and rare eloquence. He has the potential to be a formidable candidate, a vigorous campaigner, and potentially an outstanding President. I am amazed that his moment hasn’t arrived yet. If it does, I think he could bring excitement, optimism, and hope that we can cleanse ourselves of Trumpism and its Republican lackeys and more importantly restore progressive leadership to meet our many future challenges.
21
Why not?
Because we’re looking for the next coming of Lincoln to clean up the current version of Buchanan.
Because we’re looking for authenticity. Do we see either in Mr. Booker? Tell me.
17
Sorry, I like him and would vote for him but Warren has a better, clearer and comprehensive vision of the society we want to live in.
64
Let’s stop looking for a heroic ,knight in shining armor.
We just need to win Wisconsin, Michigan, Pa.
Joe can do that, we don’t need anymore votes in California, NJ, or NY.
And we don’t need crazy ideas, or health care plans that no one understands.
Vote Joe
2
Perhaps we could have both if one decided they’d be ok with the second chair
1
Warren/Booker would be a great ticket (or Warren/Castro)!
6
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that the farther ‘left’ on economics a candidate is, the more likely that Democrat is to tear off a chunk of the Trump coalition.
Even Tucker Carlson acknowledges this from time to time. The new Populist Right (to characterize it politely) seems to have inadvertently opened a wormhole between the two ends of the classical political spectrum.
Booker is decidedly left on social issues, but doesn’t quite seem to take advantage of this new political development. Sanders and Warren, counterintuitively, seem to be best positioned to do so.
15
@Ludwig Van
Agreed. I had quite a few Republican (non wealthy ) acquaintances in 2016 who supported Sanders.
7
I would really hope that he is able to stay in the race. He has an unflappable personality and that may be the most important characteristic in a race with Trump. We will have to see. Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, Booker, Biden and Yang, for me so far. But we have to trim the field. I hope he stays with them.
10
@William Trainor In a debate Trump would crush Biden he couldn't do that against Booker,,,,
1
His problem is he has never displayed any of his resume in the debates. He seemed mean spirited in his attempted take down of Biden. He hasn’t said anything that inspires. He needs to be the person running into a burning building, saving people in contrast to Trump who set the building on fire for the insurance. He should get new advisers.
30
Michelle, Is Booker is your candidate of the week, based solely on winning a debate with good well-rehearsed sounds bites to hurl at Joe Biden. Last time it was Kamala Harris. Who will it be after the next debate? Based on what? Joe Biden isn't as glib and quick with the jabs as some of the candidates, but I don't rate the candidates on their debate performance, especially when the moderators goad them into attacking one another. Joe is even tempered, experienced and worked with Barack Obama over his 8 years as President. So, he knows what it takes to be a good President and I think he has the skill set to do just that. My vote is a cup Joe please, not the flavor of the week.
47
The argument is that an excellent debate performance, which to be excellent required checking all the major boxes on the Justice Democrats' mandatory outrage culture litmus test, makes Booker not just a great candidate in the primary, but a winning candidate against Trump.
Most Americans, and most Democrats, have no use for anything the Justice Democrats are selling, so listing how Corey Booker better meets their criteria, than say Kamala Harris, (and most definitely Joe Biden), is meaningless.
As Goldberg states: "Sure, I understand why he's viewed with suspicion by large parts of the populist left." So what changed Goldberg's mind so that she's now trying to sell Booker to progressives? The fact that "After Booker’s skillful performance on Wednesday, a CNN focus group and a flash poll of activists from the progressive group Indivisible both found him to be the night’s winner."
Now that activists and progressives, overwhelmingly white and wealthy (and who, even Goldberg concedes are a tiny group, even among Democrats), are warming to Booker, it means he's a good bet to beat Trump.
That, to put it kindly, is questionable math. Goldberg's even more outrageous assertion is "That makes Booker "along with Elizabeth Warren, one of only two candidates who is widely viewed as shining in both the June and July Democratic debates." Who is this massive group of Democrats who "widely viewed" Booker "as shining"?
A tiny handful of Times pundits, which includes Goldberg herself.
24
It is a little disingenuous to suggest that the 23-point margin between Booker and Biden right now (3% to 26%) in that poll are in any way similar to the 22 point difference between Obama and Clinton in July 2007.
That poll you linked to, from 2007, had Obama at 26% and Hillary at 48%.
By this point is 2007, Obama had built up substantial political support. Booker's 3% is not a useful comparison.
It's not going to be Booker.
34
It is VERY hard not to like and admire Booker. He is a brilliant man and the sort of rare wonk-jock mixture that a Rhodes scholarship celebrates. I would not mind voting for him at all. But he is not my top choice because of a character flaw that was in evidence even last night: Booker is sometimes overcome by the sort of out of control ambition that led to his Spartacus moment and that is at the root of that theatrical streak you mention. Booker almost wants the presidency TOO badly.
And it is not clear that he would be better at the job than Joe Biden, who knows the government like the back of his hand. Biden is super ambitious too. But he has been battered enough over 40 years (I hope) to take positions and make decisions mostly on the merits, without too much concern for how they affect his image. Booker, on the other hand, boasted about working with Jeff Sessions, then testified against Sessions because of white supremacist elements in Sessions’ past, and then attacked Biden for boasting about being able to work with segregationists. Maybe you have to be a little hypocritical to make it in politics. But Booker sometimes wears his hypocrisy too nakedly on his sleeve.
Still, I wouldn’t lose too much sleep if he became president.
19
It’s pretty easy not to like booker
3
@Mike... Lesser of the 2 evils??
His track record in Newark does not stand up to scrutiny, and his relationship with trump and big Phama would be a problem. We need to pay more attention to what people do and get over the idea that debating skills are really all important.
59
Amen. He is New Jersey's DiBlasio.
8
I don't see it. Booker is charming, in a way, but it's the charm of an insider, a kind of oily charm that doesn't wear very well. I don't see him connecting with people outside of political circles.
62
Because Cory Booker is no Barack Obama and doesn't enjoy the same appeal over racial and cultural boundaries. Sorry, that is the reality and the other reality is that we have to defeat Trump. Joe Biden, although not perfect by the any stretch of the imagination, would make a good President and has the following to garner enough votes to defeat Trump in 2020. The bottom line is that Trump has to be beaten and beaten badly. Biden is not perfect, but you must remember perfect is the enemy of good. I'll take good over Trump any day of the week.
27
I’m fantasizing about a Warren/Booker ticket. Both smart and compelling people. After her 8 years in office, it’s Booker’s turn. He’s young, he can wait. And he’s said all along his running mate would be a woman.
42
@Portia That's also been my fantasy! I think Cory Booker is fantastic, and I watched him and Kamala demolish the ICE people during their Senate hearings. He is passionate and courageous for what he believes in, all while staying positive.
6
@Portia.. Cory doesn't and will not wait, too much blind ambition. Like a shooting star, awesome to see but pfft.. burns out quickly!
2
I've been a Booker fan for a long time and I've been wondering why he hadn't been performing better. Seemed like he just wasn't getting the media coverage that other candidates were. I hope his performance at the debates does propel him forward. He'd have my vote!
24
@Josie I, too, have been a fan. I don't understand why so many readers of this liberal paper are so judgmental without basis about Cory. The most liked letters here call him fake, calculating, dumber than Trump...goes on and on. I just don't understand it. He's educated, intelligent, thoughtful, brave across a spectrum. Is thinking before you speak now a character fault?
I was on the Elizabeth Warren bandwagon until she announced that she would do away with private insurance. I'm fine with Medicare myself, but suspect tens of millions of voters will be scared away if you say you will take away their insurance plan and give them something else. I don't think you can beat Trump with that position. Beating Trump and the GOP in 2020 is the most important thing that must happen. I've switched to Booker.
31
@And Justice For All
Whatever. Give me the direct quote of 'taking away private insurance'. Then we can answer with this:
You can walk in and get whatever treatement you need if you pay for it.
She can walk that back, and she should. We have to allow private insurance to exist. It's just that most Americans will not have to deal with it. It will be a thing for rich people.
It's all smoke and mirrors.
6
@And Justice For All
I agree Warren must backtrack on this - she's run an outstanding campaign and is a very good candidate, but this one error I believe, will cost her the nomination if she doesn't fix it. She is still at the top of my list for now but we have a long way to go.
5
Kamala Harris ambushed Biden and she became the progressive Democratic hope. And then she fizzled. Booker was next up and he did the same, took on Biden. Likely he too will fizzle. Why does Michelle like Booker? Is it because he's the Lindsay Graham of the Democratic Party? All self righteous bluster and indignation. By the time Booker got around to blasting Joe it was apparent that Biden was tired and did not respond well. Too tired to really show that Booker was not the great mayor he purports to be and the very things he lauds about his record came up three years later because he was sued. Booker has an undistinguished political record as mayor and Senator and he is into identity politics. That's why he gets little traction. We need candidates who resonate with all Americans or at least the 98%. That's why Biden is leading. What's wrong with our party that we don't promote candidates who can appeal to urban and rural, black and white, lower and middle class? But we can't rely on Michelle to help us get there because Michelle likes the flavor of the week.
54
@Marty,
“Michelle likes the flavor of the week.”. Tsk, tsk, that is rather unchivalrous. Journalism doesn’t always age well. The job is kind of to explore the flavor of the week. This is the opinion section, not the facts-you-can
-take-to-the-bank section.
8
One hundred percent this. He is overly earnest, rehearsed, and I wonder when he will ever have a principle that is not focus grouped.
5
@NH
And I thought this was an opinion writer for the New York Times where opinions would be more than just the flavor of the week. Are you suggesting my expectations were unreasonable?
There's nothing wrong with being a pro-business and tough-on-crime candidate. Booker was certainly those things when he was Mayor of Newark.
Right now, though, he seems to be trying to distance himself from those aspects of his past instead of embracing them.
Liberals are not the majority of the country. Are they even the majority of the Democratic Party? I'd guess at best they're 50% of it.
If Booker wants the Center-Left to support him, he needs to support the Center-Left instead of trying to diminish it.
16