The New Republic: "Can Cory Booker Win Over Progressives?"

[Mr. Morden]

New story on Booker in The New Republic:

https://newrepublic.com/article/142743/can-cory-booker-win-progressives

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[SingingAnalyst]

I think Booker would do well in a GE scenario; the qualities mentioned would appeal to the 6% of voters who chose someone besides Trump or Clinton, the 40-some percent who didn't vote, and the many people who have become disgusted with the divisiveness of American politics today.

[RINO Tom]

His "reputation" for bipartisanship has nothing to do - in and of itself - with why progressives don't like him.

[MasterJedi]

Does he really need to? Winning yuge margins in the south and in cities like Clinton did could win him the nomination.

[7,052,770]

As the 5th most liberal Senator, he should be a shoo-in for Bernie's successor. But they'll cherrypick some random issue and hate him for it instead, just watch.

[Shadows]

No[/i]. If Booker wins the nomination, a strong section of Sanders' supporters will vote Trump/3rd parties combined (most of whom held their nose & voted for Hillary) making Booker lose.

He will be the most liberal only if you have a different definition for the word - This is just insane conspiracy theory type talk !

Vouchers for College - Booker is one of the most right wing Democrat for a potential 2020 candidate when it comes to education. At a time when they are embracing Tuition free college, Democrats don't need to support strong voucher supporting people for President .

Public Option for Obamacare - 33 Democrats supported Merkley's Public option in 2015 including many Red/Swing state Democrats, the only ones in a safe blue state who didn't were Booker & Cantwell. Any1 who doesn't support Universal Healthcare shouldn't be the Dem nominee !

12$ Minimum Wage - (Not even 15$) Introduced by Patty Murray in the last Congress, 33 people supporting, including Schumer, Gillibrand, Kaine, Feinstein but not Booker. He couldn't support a 12$ staggered increase in the minimum wage. Who is he fooling with this sudden 15$ Min wage support?

Big Money Influence - He is totally influenced by Big Money interests, attacked Obama to protect private equity, voted against Drug Imports, raised massive money (more than any other Senator) through campaign funds & speaking fees. He votes against the Iran Deal & then goes & apologizes to Jewish donors - A politically expedient crony !

He is also the most inauthentic phony man that there is - Look at his ridiculous posts & acting - You hire a body language expert & see his eyes & body language & the way he behaves !

Trump is praying that Booker is the nominee!

[publicunofficial]

As the 5th most liberal Senator, he should be a shoo-in for Bernie's successor. But they'll cherrypick some random issue and hate him for it instead, just watch.

Why don't these damn leftists just like the candidates we tell them to like! But instead it's always "Waaaaaah, this candidate is a Wall Street shill and has never taken a bold progressive stance on any position, and is generally just an empty suit neoliberal waaaaaaaaah"

[Confused Democrat]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

[publicunofficial]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

[mvd10]

Booker is the Democrats' Rubio. Fairly charismatic but something of an empty suit. A lot of people see them as moderates, but Rubio actually is a solid conservative while Booker is a solid liberal.

[publicunofficial]

Booker is the Democrats' Rubio. Fairly charismatic but something of an empty suit. A lot of people see them as moderates, but Rubio actually is a solid conservative while Booker is a solid liberal.

Both are pushed because the media wants them as candidates, not because of any genuine enthusiasm. The only genuine supporters are paid staffers who get incredibly pissy when people don't like their boss, and in general act indignant about having to compete in the primary at all.

[Chief Justice Keef]

No, he can't. Let's move on.

[7,052,770]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

Charter schools are the progressive alternative  to school vouchers. Gotta think outside the box in the worst school districts.

[7,052,770]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

Charter schools are the progressive alternative  to school vouchers. Gotta think outside the box in the worst school districts.

I'm sick of this "no alternative" nonsense that Third Wayers espouse. The "Progressive alternative" to full privatization of education is absolutely not partial-privatization. How about Democrats take a stand for once and actually work to expand and improve public education instead of compromising with our opposition at every turn?

Yes! Let's give a damn about improving our awful public schools in some areas by trying out of the box ideas like charter schools! Let's stop settling for mediocre! Let's be bold!

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

Charter schools are the progressive alternative  to school vouchers. Gotta think outside the box in the worst school districts.

I'm sick of this "no alternative" nonsense that Third Wayers espouse. The "Progressive alternative" to full privatization of education is absolutely not partial-privatization. How about Democrats take a stand for once and actually work to expand and improve public education instead of compromising with our opposition at every turn?

Because charter schools are the only issue that matters

[Technocracy Timmy]

Cory Booker would be an interesting candidate. He reminds a lot of people of Obama, but unlike the former President, he's not seen as being the progressive candidate the way Obama was in 2008. The Democratic Party has been shifting leftwards ever since about 2008 which has culminated in the Third Way ideology now being detested by much of the base. People with Sanders ideology are being increasingly embraced by the Party's base. Senator Booker also isn't as charismatic as Obama (which is obviously no slight against Booker, few people can compare or surpass Obama in this regard).

Booker is gonna have to prove his progressive chops from now till 2020. It's a guarantee at this point that there will be various progressive options for the nomination be they Warren, Brown, Franken, etc. so it will be a very tough endeavor for him when it comes time for the primaries.

[publicunofficial]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

Charter schools are the progressive alternative  to school vouchers. Gotta think outside the box in the worst school districts.

Charter schools are the neoliberal alternative to school vouchers.

[Mr. Morden]

Cory Booker would be an interesting candidate. He reminds a lot of people of Obama, but unlike the former President, he's not seen as being the progressive candidate the way Obama was in 2008. The Democratic Party has been shifting leftwards ever since about 2008 which has culminated in the Third Way ideology now being detested by much of the base.

As I've said before though, he doesn't need to get Obama-like numbers in order to win the nomination, if you assume that the 2020 race will be a crowded field, as opposed to the 2-person race that 2008 was after Iowa.  What Booker (or anyone else) needs is to get some early plurality victories of something like ~35% or so, and then build from there.  I mean, heck, look at the 2004 race for an extreme example of this.  Kerry won "huge" victories in both Iowa and New Hampshire where he was nowhere close to a majority--38% of the vote in both--and then steamrolled his way to the nomination by winning virtually every primary after that.

Can Booker win some early plurality victories, that'll lead to him winning the nomination?  Yes.  Will he?  Probably not.  But that's the same answer for everyone, since there is no candidate with a greater than 50% chance of winning the nomination at this early stage.

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By "the Party's base", I think you mean people who voted for Sanders in the primaries last year.  But that's only part of the "base".  Black voters in the South, for example, surely constitute part of the Democratic Party base, and I have no reason to think that they would suddenly go for a Sanders-like candidate over a Clinton-like candidate if you held a 2016 primary re-do.

[publicunofficial]

Democrat's Motto: Shut up and stay in line!

"Cory Booker is the next big progressive hero!"
"Wait, isn't he the Senate's number one supporter of charter schoo---"
"NEXT. BIG. PROGRESSIVE."

Charter schools are the progressive alternative  to school vouchers. Gotta think outside the box in the worst school districts.

I'm sick of this "no alternative" nonsense that Third Wayers espouse. The "Progressive alternative" to full privatization of education is absolutely not partial-privatization. How about Democrats take a stand for once and actually work to expand and improve public education instead of compromising with our opposition at every turn?

Because charter schools are the only issue that matters

Name an issue and I'll tell you why Cory Booker sucks on it.

[heatcharger]

Name an issue and I'll tell you why Cory Booker sucks on it.

Immigration. Reproductive rights. Criminal justice reform. Drug war. Interested in hearing these answers.

[Technocracy Timmy]

Cory Booker would be an interesting candidate. He reminds a lot of people of Obama, but unlike the former President, he's not seen as being the progressive candidate the way Obama was in 2008. The Democratic Party has been shifting leftwards ever since about 2008 which has culminated in the Third Way ideology now being detested by much of the base.

As I've said before though, he doesn't need to get Obama-like numbers in order to win the nomination, if you assume that the 2020 race will be a crowded field, as opposed to the 2-person race that 2008 was after Iowa.  What Booker (or anyone else) needs is to get some early plurality victories of something like ~35% or so, and then build from there.  I mean, heck, look at the 2004 race for an extreme example of this.  Kerry won "huge" victories in both Iowa and New Hampshire where he was nowhere close to a majority--38% of the vote in both--and then steamrolled his way to the nomination by winning virtually every primary after that.

Can Booker win some early plurality victories, that'll lead to him winning the nomination?  Yes.  Will he?  Probably not.  But that's the same answer for everyone, since there is no candidate with a greater than 50% chance of winning the nomination at this early stage.

Fair enough, but this is entirely dependent on how many progressive candidates are in the race vs. the maisntream moderate candidates like Booker. It's too early to tell who exactly will be running and if certain factions within the Democratic base will coalesce behind a candidate early on.

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By "the Party's base", I think you mean people who voted for Sanders in the primaries last year.  But that's only part of the "base".  Black voters in the South, for example, surely constitute part of the Democratic Party base, and I have no reason to think that they would suddenly go for a Sanders-like candidate over a Clinton-like candidate if you held a 2016 primary re-do.

Former President Barack Obama is incredibly popular with African American voters within the Democratic Party. Booker's comments defending Mitt Romney of all people against Obama's criticisms regarding Bain Capital and Private Equity will come back to haunt him.

All any progressive candidate has to do to drive a wedge between African American voters and Booker is to constantly tout that he defended Mitt Romney and PE markets against Barack Obama. This isn't something Booker can easily backpedal out of. He's already very unpopular among the 43% of Bernie voters and being called out for antagonizing a beloved former President over his criticism of Bain Capital will hurt him considerably.

Hillary Clinton may have had a bloody primary battle against Obama in 2008, but the Clinton's still had a lot of credibility with the African American community prior to Obaam's rise. The former President even hired her to be his Secretary of State. Furthermore, she ran against a candidate who called for a primary challenge to Obama in 2012.

Booker doesn't have those advantages with southern black voters.

[publicunofficial]

Name an issue and I'll tell you why Cory Booker sucks on it.

Immigration. Reproductive rights. Criminal justice reform. Drug war. Interested in hearing these answers.

-Booker's position on immigration is pretty standard. He's not terrible but his position is the same as every other 2020 contender. Same with abortion, you don't get a pat on the back for being pro-choice.

-Doesn't support full marijuana legalization.

I''ll give you criminal justice reform. But again, there's no 2020 contender saying we need more people in prison.

[Mr. Morden]

Former President Barack Obama is incredibly popular with African American voters within the Democratic Party. Booker's comments defending Mitt Romney of all people against Obama's criticisms regarding Bain Capital and Private Equity will come back to haunt him.

All any progressive candidate has to do to drive a wedge between African American voters and Booker is to constantly tout that he defended Mitt Romney and PE markets against Barack Obama. This isn't something Booker can easily backpedal out of. He's already very unpopular among the 43% of Bernie voters and being called out for antagonizing a beloved former President over his criticism of Bain Capital will hurt him considerably.

Hillary Clinton may have had a bloody primary battle against Obama in 2008, but the Clinton's still had a lot of credibility with the African American community prior to Obaam's rise. The former President even hired her to be his Secretary of State. Furthermore, she ran against a candidate who called for a primary challenge to Obama in 2012.

Booker doesn't have those advantages with southern black voters.

I'm sure the Bain Capital comments will come up again, but I doubt they'll be seen as a defining disqualifier for Booker.  The reason they come up a lot now is because most people don't know that much about Booker, so they latch onto one of the few times that comments he made penetrated into national media coverage.  Once Booker is actually running for president, he'll be in the news all the time, so the focus will be more on what he's saying and doing right now, over the one comment he made ~7-8 years ago.  And to the extent that Obama is an issue, Booker will be able to point to the ~95% of the time that he agreed with him, just like Hillary Clinton could if anyone ever brought up her nasty primary fight with Obama.

Booker is still largely unknown to black voters, just as Obama was 12 years ago.  But every single black Democratic candidate for president has overperformed among black voters relative to how they were doing among white voters.  Even Al Sharpton had double digit support among black voters in the South, while he was getting 0% among whites.  Since Booker is more of a conventional politician than Sharpton (or Jesse Jackson for that matter), and has more conventional qualifications, he'll presumably be able to get more non-black votes than at least Sharpton did.

Whether that'll be enough, I don't know.  And of course, if Kamala Harris also runs, then that's a major problem for him.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Does he really need to? Winning yuge margins in the south and in cities like Clinton did could win him the nomination.

>Implying that with the clown-car that the Democratic primaries are shaping up to be, anyone is gonna break 27% in the first 4 states.

[Yank2133]

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Progressives really don't understand AA voters......