What's up with Cory Booker?

[MGKrebs]

He seems like a good candidate. Why isn't he getting any traction?

[Shell_Seas]

1. Because there are 20+ other candidates?

[Jose Garcia]

11. Doesn't seem to be a problem for Biden

[Raven123]

2. What do you like about Booker that distinguishes him from the other candidates?

It is a tough field

[MGKrebs]

5. It is a tough field, but

it seems like he has at least as good a resume as Tulsi Gabbard for christs sake. He has OK charisma, he seems to be working pretty hard. Fundraising probably not where they would like it but not too bad.

It's not about whether I like him or not, but why aren't people liking him.

Rhodes scholar.
3rd most liberal senator.
He rescued someone from a burning house! And a freezing dog!
No major gaffes.
Good policy record.

Seems like a strong candidate. Not sure why he's not connecting. i did read one thing that said he's not "new". That Pete B. and Beto are new and so getting a lot of attention. Warren is doing a good job keeping in the news, Biden is late into the race so getting some attention, plus his ability to get under Trump's skin is newsworthy. So maybe Booker's time will come. I think a lot of early runners tend to fade. Booker is a pretty good speaker so maybe the debates will be an opportunity for him.

[Raven123]

6. The closest comparison for me is Kamala Harris

I remember seeing them both on Senate Judiciary Committee. She nailed Barr with her question re: Trump initiating/encouraging investigations. Got a lot of repeat media play. She has also addressed teacher pay as a major policy issue and I believe spoke about it in her rollout. While Booker is a gifted speaker, I am not aware of a similar issue that drives his campaign. I also wonder if some rollout speeches get lost on other news of the day. Haven’t followed them all to know who announced when.

Could it be his campaign organization just hasn’t been successful in marketing ? Also, could be that he is concentrating on early primary states and hoping to catch on.

I agree the debates will be important - for every candidate. Booker will need a signature issue or a signature position on an issue that distinguishes him. When I saw him speak at the 2016 Dem convention, I was impressed.

I do agree that part of Pete’s attention is due to the novelty factor. Beto has name recognition after a highly publicized recent campaign against Cruz, but I don’t think he is doing as well as some predicted.

[Honeycombe8]

3. The Franken effect doesn't help. nt

[radical noodle]

4. I really like Booker

He has a great personality and the ability to talk easily with people. I think there are simply too many candidates for one to stand out alone. The only reason Biden is so far ahead is his history as VP. I would be happy to support Booker in the general election.

[dalton99a]

7. Booker is a good guy.

In today's WP:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/31/cory-booker-orthodox-rabbi-were-like-brothers-now-they-dont-speak/
Cory Booker and the Orthodox rabbi were like brothers. Now they don’t speak.
Their bond bridged religious and racial divides, but it collapsed in an increasingly divided country.
By Kevin Sullivan
May 31, 2019

OXFORD, England — The Jewish festival of Purim was in full swing: Music was blasting, family and friends were bouncing to the beat, and 6-foot-3 Cory Booker was laughing and dancing while carrying a 5-foot-6 Orthodox rabbi in a clown suit on his back.

It was March 1993 at Oxford University, where Booker, then 23, was studying for two years on a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. The man on his back was Shmuley Boteach, an American rabbi who was his close friend and spiritual mentor during what Booker describes as a “profoundly shaping” period of his life.

“My spiritual life really took off at Oxford, and just so many things about that experience were profound to me,” said Booker, who credits the Rhodes program with nurturing the politics of “common ground” and “love” that he now espouses as a Democratic presidential candidate.

Booker’s intense and unlikely friendship with Boteach, who was sent by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect to establish a presence at Oxford, was a main pillar of his time in England, from 1992 to 1994.

[Otto Lidenbrock]

8. Good guy, kind-hearted, passionate, but

He doesn't have the name recognition or social media presence to elevate him. Social media does not reflect real life wider electorate but it can put you forward as flavour of the month as Beto, Abrams, Buttigieg have experienced - despite having less experience. Booker hasn't had that bump.

[madville]

9. I think the Spartacus moment thing made him look

Somewhat overdramatic and foolish, especially when it was known that the committee had already approved the information for release.

[Tipperary]

15. I thought he looked downright silly actually.

But I won’t hold it against him.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. I love him as my Senator

Lathet, rinse, repeat. He's also on the wrong side of the Murphy v. Norcross/Sweeney discord in state.

This is tamping down enthusiasm in the precincts.

[question everything]

12. You can start by changing your selection from Undecided to Cory Booker

Put your signature where your comment is.

[Capt. America]

13. He's a great human being. He literally saved someone from a burning building. I'm not sure what his

problem is.

[Hortensis]

14. I'm surprised also. As a city mayor and senator he

brings some good experience. I don't think it's only that there are 23 other candidates. There is an empty candidate subcategory just waiting to be filled by a tall, vigorous, charismatic black man, and he's the only real contender.

I don't know why he's not catching fire with others. I do know the scraps of exposure during this campaign have tended to irritate me with hits to the inside. He started out accusing 3 of his fellow candidates of laughing and "bragging" about smoking pot ("Bragging"? Really?), not a good beginning for me. And I just saw him hitting Biden again over the 1994 crime bill. Yes, it was awful, an atrocity and a totally fair target, and some of its victims have now spent coming up on 3 decades in prison for nonviolent crimes. But that's not what I want from him now.

This year all attacks by anyone on Democrats instead of Republicans seem unprincipled, almost immoral. It may be unfair during primary races, but I want fierce warriors for our democracy, not for their own election. I'd like to see Booker campaigning to rescue our nation from the increasing fascism on the right, like Biden but punching out harder.

The other thing is that his sensible, practical, "this is what works" positions overall reflect a "right of me" leftism. Yes, he's overall liberal and progressive, but he has some heavy ideological competition.

On reading his comments just now on not adding more people to the Supreme Court and speaking of other alternatives, though, I'm wondering if a big part of that isn't that he typically pays us the compliment of honesty, of speaking informatively about the details of issues and not just feeding us the ones that will stimulate smiles. This is his usual, and I'm reminded that this is something I like in him. A lot.