U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on Friday declared his bid for the presidency in 2020 with a sweeping call to unite a deeply polarized nation around a “common purpose.”
The New Jersey Democrat, who is the second black candidate in a primary field that’s already historically diverse, delivered his message of unity amid an era marked by bitter political division. He announced his run on the first day of Black History Month, underscoring his consequential status as America’s potential second black president after Barack Obama.
“I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good-paying jobs with good benefits in every neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins; where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame,” Booker said in a video message to supporters, subtly jabbing at President Donald Trump.
“It is not a matter of can we, it’s a matter of do we have the collective will, the American will?” he added. “I believe we do.”
Booker enters what’s shaping up to be a crowded presidential primary, with three of his fellow Democratic senators — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — already either declared or exploring a run. But he’s spent months telegraphing his intentions to join the race, visiting the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to build connections with key powerbrokers. He already has slated trips back to those states later this month.
Booker also will begin reaching out to key constituencies Friday, conducting call-in interviews with three radio shows popular with black and Hispanic listeners. Later on Friday, Booker will be a guest on “The View,” a TV talk show popular with female audiences, where his mother plans to sit in the audience.
A former mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, Booker won a special Senate election in 2013 to replace Democrat Frank Lautenberg and then won a full Senate term in 2014. He will be able to run for a second full Senate term in 2020 while running for president, thanks to a law that New Jersey’s governor signed in November.
But that doesn’t mean the 49-year-old’s path to the nomination will be easy. As many as five more Democratic senators could soon mount their own primary bids, creating a competition for voters’ attention, and several of Booker’s rival presidential hopefuls bring higher name recognition to a race that may also feature popular former Vice President Joe Biden. Booker also will likely stand alone as an unmarried candidate, though he brings a compelling personal biography that could help elevate his message of bringing Americans together around what he described as “common purpose.”
Booker’s father grew up in a low-income community in North Carolina, and the senator has recalled his family’s later struggle to settle in suburban New Jersey amid discrimination against black homebuyers. The senator has brought a heartfelt and passionate style to his achievements in the Senate, at times fusing his personal spirituality with policy proposals that focus on social justice. Booker played a key role in the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that Trump supported last year, for example, a deal he helped strike two months after sparring with Republicans during the battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
In his announcement video, Booker invoked the fight against slavery and the role of immigration in building the nation’s character.
“The history of our nation is defined by collective action; by interwoven destinies of slaves and abolitionists; of those born here and those who chose America as home; of those who took up arms to defend our country and those who linked arms to challenge and change it,” he said.
Born in the nation’s capital but raised in New Jersey, Booker made a name for himself as Newark mayor by personally shoveling the snow of residents. He has $4.1 million left in his campaign coffers that could also be used to assist his presidential run. Rather than opening an exploratory committee to test the waters, Booker took the direct step to open a campaign seeking the Democratic nomination.
Booker is aligning with many other prominent Democratic White House contenders by forswearing all donations from corporate political action committees and federal lobbyists to his campaign, dubbed Cory 2020. A prominent Booker supporter, San Francisco attorney Steve Phillips, says he is working on millions of dollars in committed donations to a so-called super PAC that would boost the senator’s candidacy, but Booker’s campaign is openly against super PACs playing any role in the presidential race.
(AP)
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20 Responses
“Dvar Torah”?! This a really in poor taste.
Historically diverse?
Republicans had an African American, some Hispanics, females and a few rinos
Just watch the stage is set for Hillary to win nomination (just like trump, mind you)
Senator Booker used to be one of our best friends in government. As all of the above film clips emphasize. However, this release from the AP (which YWN should really stop using), was probably released by Booker’s PR team under the category of “to appeal to Jewish voters….”. If Booker can overcome his recent case of Progressive Fever and go back to being the man he once was, he could be a viable candidate. But that fever is spreading faster then the flu.
Proper Headline: “Dvar Torah Delivering” BDS-Supporting NJ Democratic Sen. Cory Booker Launches 2020 Bid
Stay stay far far away from this oisvurf. Poison doesn’t even describe him.
Booker has already appeared in anti Semitic meetings with the radical Muslim members of congress. It’s very unlikely that he will have any interest in the Jewish community beyond fooling them and getting them to support radical Leftist causes.
It’s very unfortunate that Shmuely Boteach taught him how to give a bogus dvar torah.
Please don’t fall for his smooth -as his bald head- blather. His true colors shone brightly during the Kavanaugh hearings and theory weren’t pretty.
Lakewood community I urge you not to allow this chameleon to enter your community with the dvaaaar tawrah’s (as he calls them) while you lavishly throw money at him. He’s not a friend of our traditional values and as he leans more left and progressive we would do better as a nation without him.
I guess this elteh bachur, Cory Booker, hasn’t cracked open an English Artscroll in a while. In the 3rd video (that’s all I had patience for) he states that Eliezer went to find a wife for Yaakov. Really? Not sure where he got that information from.
Anyway, the good news is, that now the honorable Joe Biden won’t be able to run, yet again. How can the WHITE Joe Biden prevent an African-American from reaching the highest office in the land? We all know Uncle Joe has a lot of racist tendencies.
Sure. By increasing taxes so it can good for ALL.
The “all” need to get a job and stop collecting government programs.
The only way to become great is for you to work hard and work very hard…..work on yourself. Period.
YWN should have more respect for the intelligence of it’s readers, than to try to pass off a clearly prepackaged propaganda piece complete with videos as unbiased news reporting of Booker’s bid.
I speak for thousands when I say we are sorely disappointed in YWN on how you handled this story.
So are we supposed to ignore the fact that Senator Booker supported the Iran (deal) scheme orchestrated by President Obama? I like much of what Senator Booker has to offer but I do not want to see that sort of mentality in a position of power ever again. Another dose of John Kerry? No, thank you!
everyone wants to “unify” the country–well, North Korea is unified–no thanks.
The Booker of old is dead, he traded Jews long ago for the Muslim vote. The way he treated Kavanaugh is all we need to know about the lack of ethics from this backstabbing ferd.
kalet bakeram
This fellow will fit in with the crazies running.
Should be fun !
Can someone explain what the title of this news article means
He has no chance. Well maybe a chance. The Dems are so far left that each one is basically campaigning on the same thing- trying to “out-left” one another. The question is who will out-left the others best and is the most likeable at the same time. Scary thing is, AOC would probably be a shoe-in if she wasn’t a freshy. The Dems as a party will probably implode sometime soon, when they just fall off the spectrum and the public actually realizes how insane they are.
NIce show. But I could care less how he gives a dvar Torah ! Whats his postion on Israel is he going to feed us to the wolves like Obama or is he going to give Israel the priority it deserves like Trump does ??
Judging by most of the comments made here, I ask “How do you vote without having proper knowledge of the candidate you’re voting for?” The answer I received the most over the years is “Some Askan told us to vote this way.” Yidden! Please do your own research on all the candidates and read real news reports like NewsMax or other online sources before making an intelligent decision on who to vote for. We are not sheeple. Think for yourself, do your own research. You will realize that all those DemocRATs you voted for in the past are now coming back to harm you. (There are a few good Democrats, but not many).
Low-life Cory Booker is a good example of why we do not teach Torah to a Goy!
looked interesting on this Cory Booker so i did more research with 2 rabbis i respect:
On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at RabbiZ wrote:
RabbiX was sitting in his office as part of a AIPAC delegation trying to head off the Iran deal. RabbiX asked Cory Booker if the leader of Iran last name was Hitler and not Khameini would he still support the Iran deal and Booker said an unequivocal YES!
RabbiX – did I get that correct?
In other words, Cory Booker would support providing Iran under Nazi leadership with hundreds of Billons of dollars and nuclear weapons.
RabbiX replied:
Yes.
Cory Booker is a total fake.
I was there in the room as he betrayed all of his loyal Jewish supporters that helped him get to where he is today.
He has zero loyalty to Israel but 100% know how on how to use his charisma and exposure to Jewish culture to schmaltz it up and make Jews believe they would have a friend in the White House.
It was nauseating to watch and listen to him.
A slimy politician with no backbone.