What we learned about Cory Booker:

[madaboutharry]

He is a good man.

I contributed several times to his campaign because I believed he brought so much to the table.

I wish him only the best and I have no doubt that he will continue to fight the good fight for the American people.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

1. Yes, Sen. Booker is a VERY good man!!

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

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I agree. He's an impressive guy.

[brooklynite]

3. What else we learned about Cory Booker: he's not a compelling candidate.

This had nothing to do with racism; I went to his kickoff speech and saw him at two debates. He's a nice guy, but nothing in his speeches or policies resonated with voters. That's politics.

[StarfishSaver]

4. We have no idea if he was a "compelling" candidate because not one single vote has been cast

He may not have been "compelling" to the cool kids on the press bus and on DU. But we don't know what the voters think of him because they weren't given a chance to tell us.

[brooklynite]

5. So you're prepared to say that John Delaney is as compelling as Booker or Biden?

Polling over time tells us many things. It tells us that Biden is the top choice. It tells us that Sanders isn't consistently at half his strength in 2016, and isn't gaining on Biden. It tells us that Warren and Buttigieg have lost momentum after gaining strength earlier in the year. And it tells us that Cory Booker never developed a following except for a small handful of Democrats.

[StarfishSaver]

7. I'm not prepared to say that. That should be up to the voters

Polls are snapshots. They shouldn't drive the race.

I don't think candidates should be weeded out before the primaries actually begin based on polls and press interest.

[brooklynite]

30. I agree that polls are snapshots. Multiple snapshots make a film...

https://projects.economist.com/democratic-primaries-2020/

[StarfishSaver]

31. If you think the "film" tells the story, why bother with primaries. Just watch the movie ...

[brooklynite]

32. I'd argue that the candidates who quit did watch it...

Nobody forced them to quit.

[cwydro]

8. He lost me at "Spartacus."

[Skya Rhen]

25. Right Wing talking point!

[mainstreetonce]

6. We desperately need to fix the primary and debate system.

Last edited Mon Jan 13, 2020, 02:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Some of the best candidates are not getting a chance to be heard
Corey and Kamela should have been heard through the whole primary season.

[loyalsister]

14. They were shut down by white fragility

Kamala talked about her experience and it became a story about an attack on Joe Biden. That is white supremacy in action.

[tirebiter]

16. Are you saying the Black voters are chumps?

Sure sounds like that's what you're saying

[loyalsister]

34. Nope

I'm saying white people were more personally offended by Kamala Harris' criticism of Joe Biden's history than by the racism she has pointed out.

[redstatebluegirl]

29. As long as white as the driven snow Iowa and New Hampshire are first this is going to happen.

Obama was an anomaly, I am glad as hell he was, but it won't happen again in our lifetimes. We need a more diverse group of state as the first 4 at the same time in order to give minority candidates a chance to advance.

[brooklynite]

33. "Not getting a chance to be heard..."

Booker was heard at his kickoff speech in April:

He was heard at the Debates in June, July, September,October and November:

He was heard at cable news Town Hall events:

He was heard at candidate forums:

He was heard at Party events:

He was heard at frequent public events around the country.

At what point do voters get to decide that he's not their choice?

[The Valley Below]

10. The process is working precisely as it should.

We need to winnow the crop of candidates down to a handful of contenders and then settle on a nominee who can win in November.

At the start of the season I was very torn between Biden and Booker, and resolved that dilemma by hoping for a Biden/Booker ticket.

But Booker ran a strange campaign that seemed amorphous and lacked clear vision.

I, personally, liked that he tacked against the zeitgeist and tried to adopt a "politics of love" approach (which probably puts me in a decided minority). However, it seems completely hypocritical when he managed to to force in the "I thought you were high" jab in the debates.

Booker managed to lose me. I've gone from strong supporter to meh.

Too bad. Booker has many compelling qualities. I love that he tries to inspire young people. That's the feature where we are doing least well IMO. We need to inspire our youth to greatness.

[StarfishSaver]

11. You like that the press and pollsters "winnow down" the candidates before you get to vote?

Perhaps it makes a difference that your candidate made the pollsters/pundit cut. You might feel different if that wasn't the case But the voters shouldn't have their choices decided by the press and polls before they even get a chance to vote. Or if that's how it's going to be, we should stop the charade and just conduct a poll and ask the leading pundits who they like best and put the 6 people who come out on top on the primary ballots.

[The Valley Below]

12. LOL. The candidates are being winnowed down by lack of support from the people

and that is precisely what needs to happen.

What would be "distressing" would be to carry on this long with a field or 30 (or even a dozen) candidates in the race.

Booker WAS one of my favorites. At some point candidates who don't attract a following need to exit. That's the nature of races with such large fields. It is a necessary part of the process. And it is beneficial at this point.

Pundits are not deciding who does well and who does not. The campaigns and the candidates do that. Booker ran a non-compelling (and at times off-putting) campaign.

I hope he has future opportunities and that he ruminates on why he never gained traction.

[StarfishSaver]

13. "lack of support from the people"? What people?

[loyalsister]

15. I tend to believe when the word "people" is used

it quite specifically refers to opinions of white people. It happens often enough to be a pattern.

[The Valley Below]

18. That is an outrageous slur. Please self-delete.

Pure ugliness!

[The Valley Below]

21. Did Yang qualify for Tuesday's debate?

Part of the reason Yang hung in there, in my estimation, is that he offered up an unwavering vision of his policy goals, where Harris and Booker did not.

[The Valley Below]

28. No argument on the merits of Yang's (or Sanders) positions,

but at least they are clear.

Likewise Biden, Klobuchar, and Buttigiege have been clear and consistent.

[StarfishSaver]

24. Indeed

[tirebiter]

22. Yeah, like in South Carolina

Where the white voters are pretty much ignored. The overwhelming Black support for Biden was and is the story.

[aikoaiko]

23. I trust his character more than most other candidates who ran this cycle.

[CrispyQ]

26. We have some awesome young leaders, that's for sure!

I've been impressed with the entire lot!.

[Dr Vegas]

35. a story most outside New Jersey don't know. (maybe an Urban Legend maybe not)

During his time as Mayor, Newark was hit with a HUGH snowstorm. The storm was so big that people had trouble digging out of it.
Mayor Booker used his twitter account so that he could find out about trouble spots and He and his staff went to those places and helped dig people out. Oh course this took time and when one able person complained that his Mother had to wait, Cory texted back that they would get there as soon as they could and asked how far away that person was from his mother (he was a lot closer). Booker offered to send someone to pick him up and take him over to help his Mom, but the man declined.

[msongs]

36. we learned he is not that popular in any demographic nt