Booker looks to be Dems' best bet against Christie
Cory Booker, full-time Newark mayor and part-time hero/entrepreneur/rising Democratic star, is the Dems' best shot at stopping the self-propelled political force that is Chris Christie.
Booker looks to be Dems' best bet against Christie
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Cory Booker, full-time Newark mayor and part-time hero/entrepreneur/rising Democratic star, is the Dems' best shot at stopping the self-propelled political force that is Chris Christie.
At least that's what a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll seems to indicate.
Christie continues to bring in plus-50 percent approval ratings -- this time 55 percent approval to 36 percent disapproval among registered voters.
But he's up for re-election next year. And while 50 percent of registered voters say he deserves another term, 45 percent want someone new. Asked to assess a field of nine (!) potential challengers, Booker is the most well-known among them -- even more so than Dick Codey, the former acting governor.
Booker has a 49 percent favorabile rating, while Codey comes in at 34 percent.
Name recognition of New Jersey Democrats falls off the cliff after that. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) comes in third, and registers a 19 percent favorable rating to 16 percent unfavorable.
“The first step in challenging an incumbent in New Jersey is to attain adequate name recognition. Right now, only Booker, Codey, and perhaps Sweeney have reached that threshold,” said Patrick Murray, the pollster who ran the survey.
Of course, we don't know if any of these guys are going to run against Christie (and we still don't know if Christie himself is going to run). And Booker and Christie are friends who have stood together on many issues, making such a bid complicated.
But if you're a deep-pocketed national Democrat petrified of a President Christie sitting in the Oval Office in January 2017, you're getting Booker on the phone right now, begging him to cut off Christie at the pass.
Booker won't be running against Christie. He wants the Senate seat of Granny Lautenberg. The Dem power brokers will acquiesce and put Granny out to pasture.- Cory Booker won't go after Lautenberg.
Booker loves being in charge surrounded by his Newark Police detectives. He won't have any if he runs for the US Senate.
Also Booker loves being in charge and delegating his responsibilities to them. As a senator he'll have to do WORK and not lip service.
And let's remember better men have tried to unseat Lautenberg and where are they now? Deep in La-La Land, never to be seen or heard from again.— hernnde - Christie will destroy Booker from the moment Booker announces. How?
Right now Booker is begging the state (Christie) for $24 million to balance the city budget and Christie is forcing him to create a MUA to take over the multi billion dollar Newark Watershed. Fortunately, the city council and the people are oppose to this takeover. The people got a referendum on the ballot to Booker's detriment.
That's just the beginning. Could you imagine the political repercussion from having to do round 2 of city layoff? There were over 1350 police officers when Booker won reelection two years ago - the department is now down 300 officers. Same with firefighters, sanitation workers, etc.
By the way, the Newark Police force is so undermanned that if your car is stolen you have to go to the precinct to file the report (which is difficult since you don't have a car to get there), have an auto accident don't expect a patrol car to respond - you have to go to the precinct to file the report and get assaulted guess what? Don't expect a patrol car to respond to take the report.— doctorphil47 - Corruption runs amok under Mayor Booker in Newark. He has rewarded out of state - politically connected friends with lucrative consulting gigs, no show jobs (that's what his former fire director got. He retired, collected his pension and the next day started an $88,000/year aide's no show job - at the same time police and firefighters were being laid off).
He has 34 Newark police detectives assigned solely for his own protection with nine on each shift while calls by people go unanswered.
Booker spins a great tale on his speech making tours earning $40,000/speech for almost $! million while neglecting the home-front. The more you know about Booker the more you come to realize he is more charade.— hernnde - He'll be the new liberal African American flavor of the month. Not qualified? No problem.— Phillies2008WSChamps
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
