Booker drops out.

[MoonRiver]

[StarfishSaver]

1. This is heartbreaking ... and infuriating

It is terrible the extent to which the press and polls weed out candidates before the voters have a chance to weigh in.

[bearsfootball516]

6. I don't remember him getting a large amount of bad publicity

And the polls are just a snapshot of the national opinion. He just happened to run the same year as three heavyweights ran, Biden, Sanders and Warren.

[StarfishSaver]

7. He didn't get much publicity at all

That's the problem.

The media decides who is worth covering and the more coverage someone gets, the more "viable" they're deemed to be, guaranteeing them more coverage. And those who don't get the coverage are seen as not as worthy because they're not being covered, so they fall further behind.

It's a vicious cycle.

[Hortensis]

20. AA know who he is, tho. 13% of Americans, 12% (!!!) of voters in 2016.

Anyone they supported would be an important candidate. But this year AA didn't support Booker, Harris, or Patrick, all qualified liberal Democrats.

It's not racism. It's certainly not that they weren't aware these people were running.

It's electability. They say so. This election's catch-22: these candidates couldn't get support because they didn't already start with big support.

Agree the press are a huge problem, and that wasn't helped by having 30 candidates, just not the main problem this time for someone as prominent going in as Booker.



Next time, Senator Booker.

[StarfishSaver]

21. "It's not racism" ... I didn't say it was

In fact, I didn't mention race at all.

[Hortensis]

23. Sorry, misunderstanding. You said press. Others claimed racism.

I'm saying electability. It was also a bump because all threads on Booker had already dropped off the first screen.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

12. Not just voters who have a say... it's the contributor's who have MORE say.

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the revolution!!

[StarfishSaver]

15. The contributors follow the polls and coverage

[dalton99a]

2. Disgusting.

[Apollo Zeus]

4. Has Booker endorsed another candidate?

[MoonRiver]

8. Don't think so.

[tritsofme]

5. He just didn't turn out to be a very good candidate this cycle.

It hasn’t been uncommon for candidates to run multiple times before winning the nomination, Al Gore, Ronald Reagan, likely Joe Biden, his window isn’t closed, I hope he learned some valuable lessons. You’ve got to believe he will be on VP shortlists at the very least.

[StarfishSaver]

9. Being a "good" candidate seems now to be based solely on whether the

press decides to make you one of the cool kids. The voters have no say in it at all.

It's sickening. Booker deserved to have his name on the ballot let voters decide if he was a good candidate. He did not deserve to be drummed out of the race by lazy reporters and pundits.

[MoonRiver]

10. Yes to all that. It also depends on how rich a candidate is.

With enough money a candidate can plaster the media with ads. Doesn't have to depend on cable t.v. pundits.

[tritsofme]

17. No one forced him to exit. He could have stayed and collected his dozens of votes.

But why delay the inevitable? The writing has been in the wall for months.

Booker is not a very well known figure nationally, with no pre-existing base of support in the party, in a cycle with three very big names running. The result was very predictable.

[handmade34]

11. being a vegan

has more disfavor than being Black

[MoonRiver]

14. Kind of makes you wonder.

It was one of the reasons I loved him.

[monmouth4]

13. Been reading very negative posts from New Jerseyans about him. They don't like him at all. n/t

[StarfishSaver]

16. ...

Link to tweet

[BlueMTexpat]

18. Sorry to see this.

For many reasons.

[IrishEyes]

19. He is only 50. Hopefully he has a long political career ahead of him.

I'm sorry to see him go. He was in my top four.

[The Revolution]

22. I feel sorry for the campaign worker...

...that came to my door just two days ago. It was quite cold. I've actually thought Booker would be a good candidate for a long time now, but he just didn't catch on this time. I don't think it's the result of any fundamental problem with the party or the primary system, just a lot of candidates, several of which already had great name recognition and a base of support. Maybe if we had 10 candidates last summer instead of 20+, Booker would have had more room to break through. In any case, I think his future is still bright, and will look forward to seeing more from him in the coming years.