Mediaboss Marketing

That speech had some wishing Booker were accepting the nomination rather than Clinton, but the Trump era has brought renewed scrutiny of his record from progressives. Like all of his Democratic colleagues and even two Republican senators, Booker voted against the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. But he was rightly called out for hypocrisy, given that he previously worked with DeVos to promote school choice policies, including private school vouchers. Booker also voted against an affordable drug proposal from Senator Bernie Sanders, before ultimately backing a compromise bill. Booker said his initial opposition was based on the need for safety provisions, but critics werent buying it. This is silly, given that Americans already import drugs from Canada illegally and it hasnt resulted in a public health emergency, argued the New Republics Alex Shephard. Similarly, the Canadian drug industry doesnt exactly have a reputation for being dangerous. Voxs Jeff Stein wrote that while its true that his vote may have had more to do with the concentration of the pharmaceutical industry in his home state, its also only served to confirm some progressives suspicions that hes too closely allied with corporate interests in the Democratic Party.

Much of the criticism of Booker is still about tone. Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign committee said Booker has been getting better over the years, but still needs to do more:

One of the biggest issues some people had with Cory Booker over the years is an unwillingness to name villainswhich is an essential part of story telling and which Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders do very well. Unfortunately, Trump did this in 2016 and sold people on the idea that their economic pain was the result of immigrants and other races as opposed to corporate CEOs who arent sharing wealth with workers. Fortunately, Booker has begun to be more aggressive in the Trump era, and its a pending question as to whether he will be willing to call out Wall Street bank CEOs for defrauding millions of Americans and hurting our economy. We shall see, but things are progressing.

Moulitsas argues anyone thinking about 2020 needs to catch up with the grassrootsor ideally get ahead of themwhen it comes to stopping Trump and the Republican Congress. He foresees a massive field of Democratic candidates: Im absolutely convinced that were going to have an embarrassment of riches. That means progressives dont need to settle for second best. Our bench is growing, he said. The reason Im even taking a call about 2020 is because Democrats today need to think about what 2019 looks like. The first question anybody in the resistance is going to ask is where was this person in 2017? If they werent with us in 2017, that will make it really easy to whittle down that list.... Youre either with the resistance today or I would say dont even bother running.

Booker sees himself as very much with the resistance. He took a big stand against his colleague Jeff Sessionss nomination for attorney general, joining Representative John Lewis to testify against him. In January, NJ Advance Media called Booker a leading voice of dissent in the Democratic Party as the Donald Trump era begins, adding, Its a sudden turn of events for a lawmaker who arrived at the U.S. Capitol with a reputation for liking the spotlight but instead sought to hide from its glare, working quietly with members of both parties to advance legislation and using his celebrity status to help elect more Senate Democrats. At CAP on Tuesday, Booker said, I want to fight in this climate. I want to dedicate myself. But we cannot just be a party of resistanceweve got to be a party thats reaffirming that American dream.

Booker has long preached unity and transcendence. Progressives may want him to name villains, but he told Salon in 2013, I dont believe in wholesale vilification of any industry in the United States. The title of his book last year says it all: United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good. Hes worked across the aisle for good, as with his work on criminal justice reform with Senator Rand Paul, and for ill, as with his corporate school reform efforts in Newark with Governor Chris Christie and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Last summer, in a sign that he sees Booker as a political threat, Trump attacked the senators impassioned convention speech:

Booker responded neither with snark nor insult, instead telling Trump, I love you, I just dont want you to be my president.

Booker has long been compared to Obama, for reasons both lazy and legitimate. Their race aside, theyre both gifted orators who call for healing divisions, building bridges, overcoming political cynicism and partisan rancorin other words, they evangelize for hope. Theyre also not easy to pin down ideologically, and have angered their fair share of progressives and centrists. Tad Devine, who served as Bernie Sanderss senior strategist last year, said any comparisons to Obama would serve Booker well. I think voters would say theyd like another round of that, thank you very much, he said.

But the message that worked for Obama in 2008, after eight years of hopeless wars under President George W. Bush, may not work for Booker in 2020, after four years of chaos and incompetence under Trump. If progressives mood today is any indication, the Democratic base will demand anger and fiery obstructionism, which is hardly Bookers style. If he adopted such a persona in the partys primary, would the Bernie wing believe it? Not likely.

Booker also thinks its a mistake for Democrats to become what were trying to replace, treating Trump and Republicans like the GOP treated Obama. I literally have these arguments with supporters or fellow Democrats all the time, he said earlier this month on The Ezra Klein Show, where they say, Enough with the love and kindness stuff, Cory. Weve got to fight. And I say, When are those mutually exclusive?.... I think, again, we lose a bit of our moral compass when we are demonizing other people. He added, I just dont believe you need to be mean, you need to be deceitful, you need to practice the dark arts in order to win elected offices.

Booker may not have to completely transform himself to win the Democratic nomination, either. If he can monopolize support from black voterswhich may require outmaneuvering Kamala Harrisand pick up enough moderate Democrats, he could conceivably be the partys pick to take down Trump. While Bookers lack of populist bona fides could prove damaging in a general election, too, a constitutional crisis may well override concerns about, say, his Wall Street ties. But even in that scenario, its hard to imagine Booker succeeding with his same old message. Its hard to be both a lover and a fighterand you certainly cant kill Trump with kindness.

See the original post here:
Can Cory Booker Win Over Progressives? - New Republic