I hear he's available to his constituents 24 hours a day and will actually come out and help you get your street plowed of snow.

And he also voluntarily lives in a run down tenement in a drug and gang filled neighborhood.

Unbelievable respect for the guy. Unbelievable.

He probably would be treated worse than Obama knowing the GOP.

I must admit, I've never heard of him before. I do always like seeing good people in Jersey... Seems the crazies from Jersey get so much more press. I'll have to learn more about him.

Seneca Chief, Red Jacket in 1805.

Same sentiment. The hypocrisy of some Christian zealots is unabated.

I will post it down line

who would be a good follow up to our present President.

, it sounds like he might be the president we THOUGHT we were electing in '08.

and I"m dang sure proud of that too.

President Obama---they're on the same page!

As a Buddhist, I totally support and respect this guy!!! So sick of the corrupt christofascists and their disgusting infiltration into the power systems of this country.

He (Obama) and We need more people like this (and like Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Al Franken, Bernie Sanders working TOGETHER!

(he looks like Vin Diesel, too. What's not to like?)

How a person handles emergencies tells all that needs to be said about them.
Remember when w flew all over the country running like a scared rabbit on the day of the 911 inside job. It told us all we needed to know about his sorry ass then. I'm proud that I consider myself in the same party of the good people who are fighting the good fight such as Mayor Booker and President Obama and the others you listed. Bernie might not consider himself a democrat and thats fine with me as he is on yours and my side fighting right along with us. Many times leading the charge.
When you stop and think about it Its an honor to be one of them, or should I put that as them being one of us. Either way it works for me.
peace

dubya's fly-over of no after katrina.

ellen fl

You're right, about how people behave in emergencies! It tells a lot!

I'm actually even more glad to see that such excellent behavior is a pattern--for Booker, for President Obama, for those I listed....

An emergency is a short event, but what we do the rest of the time is key (imho...and on a personal note--I have a long way to go on that account, myself. Great in emergencies; lazy the rest of the time! )

He's a dreamboat.

I saw him on one of those genealogy shows "Finding Your Roots" ...interesting family history, too.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2209169895/

Booker's 2002 Mayoral campaign, which he lost, was chronicled by filmmaker Marshall Curry in his documentary Street Fight. The film was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Since 2009, Booker has starred in the documentary series Brick City, which airs on the Sundance Channel. Season 2 of the series is currently airing. The series focuses on the Mayor and his tireless efforts to reduce crime in Newark and bring economic renewal to a city that has been blighted by drugs, gangs and unemployment for years. Brick City has won a Peabody Award, and has been nominated for a 2010 Primetime Emmy.

Booker also contributes to the 2011 documentary Miss Representation and comments on the representations of women in politics within mass media.

and Ms. goclark thinks he is a super star and a rising star in the political world.

We could certainly use more like him in politics.

He's brilliant! He's an amazing person! He's also a hero (helping to shovel snow after a storm and rescuing his neighbor from a fire!).

AWESOME!!!!!

I hope to make eye contact with him also.

Congratulations to you and your son!!

Agree with the sentiment.
If you need to tell me how much of a Christian you are then you are not doing a good enough job acting in a Christian manner.

Thank you.

Cristy's job first.

It will be interesting to watch him in the years to come.

He's a good guy.

That's super cool!

I don't even know his positions on anything other than the fact that he's against having a neighbor burn to death in a fire... but I also get the sense that he's a genuinely good guy and would make decisions based on compassion rather than political donations or expediency, so I might even trust him more than someone whose laundry list matched mine but might not have as strong a desire as he seems to have to do good by following through.

He was a great athlete back in the day and I remember that he was particularly gracious when he kicked me ass on the 100 m hurdles.

I don't remember a lot of kids from my high school days, but I do remember him and his friendly attitude whether he won or lost. I suppose his charisma was there even back then.

Knowing where he came from, he could worked his way into the 1% through Wall Street, but instead he choose a most difficult political path where the need for leadership was great.

I seem to remember I disagree with his education policies.

Booker is a Chris Christie Pal.

I'm from NJ and I wouldn't vote for him. Sorry. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/gov_christie_newark_mayor_cory.html

neoliberal smile.

plus some pithy bon mots about jesus.

...And not the kind of narrow-minded, exclusionary, judgmental, cold-hearted, bloodthirsty arrogance that's become the face of the religion, especially during the last thirty-two years or so.

In MY opinion, at least. The quote from Mr. Booker is awesome, and more of the so-called religious fundies could learn a lot from it!

It would be nice if Cory Booker ran for that job!

and that might be his first step towards the WH.

been a fan of his for years.

Ha just kidding . If all goes well Booker does have a bright future. I can see him becoming governor of NJ and moving up from there. He probably will run for president in a decade or two.

I wonder if the RW will accuse him of not being a Christian, like how they do with Obama, and if the Birthers will come out even though he has a more common last name.

And I thought the same thing. I really like him.

tree on one of his programs. Booker and Barbara Walters were the subjects. Amazing man.

We need to get through 2012 first; but, we can start looking down the road.

Warren/Booker. Great ticket either way!

That's the real message of Jesus. I don't know anything about this mayor, so I can't say anything about him.

... during the "undocumented" years of his life. Since he was called "rabbi," such training and education would make sense.

...there is a church in India founded by Thomas the Apostle who say Jesus studied there during those years. Like the idiots Europeans could be (and I can say this as I am of Euro descent), when they came upon this church, they burned it to the ground because it did not have any statues in it ~ because this church observed the Jewish theology of never having "any graven image" within the sanctuary. This was because this church followed more closely Jewish tradition, since it was a Jewish sect in the beginning. This church claims that Jesus visited there to study with the great Yogis as it is said much of the Torah is based on Sanskrit teachings.
I do not understand why theologians pay exclusive attention to the Greek Roman history than we do the more Eastern and Asian churches. This church in the state of Karala India was directly established by Thomas, a close friend of Jesus.

My 2 cents

Cat in Seattle

are intolerant, fox-news-watching, war mongering, hateful biggots......IMHO

I knew about his heroism. Now this. I think I'm in love.

What a great example of a human being

schools, and union-busting.

if you love the new compassionate feudalism, booker's your man.

his alliance with Michelle Rhee!

http://blackagendareport.com/content/cory-booker-clear-and-present-threat-public-education

I so want to like the guy, especially since he went to Yale Law -- but why does he choose to associate with the likes of Rhee?

http://www.rheefirst.com

are SO much better than people who have low intentions and are good at convincing people they're "right" on everything.

I'd say Booker is probably in the top tier of Democrats in other areas, even if he's wrong on education.

but didn't know that much about him.

His background, per Wikipedia:

Booker was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the predominantly white, affluent town of Harrington Park in Bergen County, New Jersey.[1] His parents, Cary Alfred and Caroly Rose (Jordan) Booker, were among the first black executives at IBM.[2][3] One of Booker's maternal great-grandfathers was Caucasian, and Booker also has African-American and Native American ancestry.[3][4][5] Booker is an alumnus of Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, where he was a 1986 USA Today All-American football player.[6] Booker then studied at Stanford University, receiving a B.A. in political science in 1991 and an M.A. in sociology the following year. He played varsity football[7] ; he made the All–Pacific Ten Academic team — and was elected Senior Class President in the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)[8]. In addition, he ran The Bridge, a student-run crisis hotline and organized help for youth in East Palo Alto, from Stanford students.[9] While at Stanford, Booker also became good friends with Rachel Maddow.

Booker received a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he was awarded an honours degree in modern history in 1994. While at Oxford, he became friends with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of the local chapter of Chabad and brought together a diverse community.

Booker obtained a J.D. in 1997 from Yale Law School, where he operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven. At Yale, he became friends with Rabbi Shmully Hecht, with whom he jointly founded the Chai Society (now the Eliezer Society).[10] He was also a Big Brother and was active in the Black Law Students Association. Booker lived in Newark during his final year at Yale and after graduation served as Staff Attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and Program Coordinator of the Newark Youth Project.

<snip>

That is an amazing resume. Clearly a man destined for bigger and better things.

He has a great charisma that emits such empathy. I can envision him to be president of America.

in his little pinky than Rmoney has in his whole ...... pinky.

As a NJ resident, I couldn't be more proud of him.

Weirdly, he reminds me of Wes Clark!

It was really interesting and showed a bit of Mayor Booker's personality. You can see it online here:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2209169895/

There is also a good article about him here:

http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/newark-mayor.html

He comes across as a sincerely genuine person.

I just watched the pbs video and, while we're not really talking about John Lewis, there was some remarkable background in his family tree!!

His Great, Great Grandfather registered to vote in 1867, two years after being freed from slavery! The Great, Great Grandfather of John Lewis, who marched with MLK, registered to vote in 1867!! (of course it all went to hell some 7-10 years later, but still....) Something in the Lewis blood! Such a cool story.

One of my favorite things about Mayor Booker (aside from him responding to me on Twitter) is the way that he uses Twitter to mobilize his resources within his community. Pothole on your block? Tweet the mayor. Elderly neighbor snowed in? Tweet the mayor. Power still out from a storm? Tweet the mayor. He's managed to cut out the bureaucracy in many instances and can get help to where its needed more quickly and efficiently. Amazing what can be done on that "internets"!

And the sooner the better!

read more about Tim Ryan. He seems like a winner.

Can't wait to check it out.

. . . set sights on the WH!

Hell right about now a toadstool would be a better option for New Jersey than that idiot loudmouth fat-ass Chris Christie. And btw I will happily call Christie a fat-ass since he refered to those who collect uninsurance & welfare as fat-asses.

. . . Christie's my one exception.

Who is he to call anyone else a fat ass?

wouldn't, by definition, the governor's salary be considered a government check

Keep wishing.

"Christie and Booker are allies"

...not on everything: http://election.democraticunderground.com/1002226035

I can probably find one issue where I agree with Dubya. Doesn't make us allies.

it has often struck me that I live in a more Christian way than almost any so-called Christian I know, and I am Agnostic - I've seen VERY few Christians actually WALK THE WALK

at work and I want to do the "Christian" thing, but my bosses, who proudly call themselves Christian, only want to do what's best for them.

you might ask why newark has so few city workers.

booker = neolib enacting neolib austerity & privatization policies.

http://coreyrobin.com/2012/04/13/in-which-i-rain-on-everyones-cory-booker-parade/


Do liberals love the Manhattan Institute? Do they favor the use of vouchers to take resources from public schools? Are they fans of the Wal-Mart Walton family? The answer to those questions is usually an unqualified no. Why then do liberals adore Cory Booker?

Cory Booker first came to public attention with a speech at a Manhattan Institute luncheon in 2000...Booker’s maiden speech was a stale hodgepodge of bad political theater. It began with a phony sounding story of Booker’s grandmother dispensing sage advice as he left for Oxford. It ends with attacks on public education itself.

Do Booker’s liberal acolytes know that he favors public dollars for parochial schools? While lamenting the lack of academic achievement in Newark, Booker called for “school choice,” a code for vouchers. He said nothing about school funding formulas in New Jersey and around the country that take public school funding from cities like Newark and give them to the suburbs.

Who knew that liberals would support a Walton/Bradley supplicant? Booker knows they won’t, so he tones down his connections to the right wing who put his name on the map.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/177/177_freedom_rider_cory_booker.html

I'm not a big fan myself.

is it all about their pr machines, their tv shows, and their "smokin' hot" publicity photos?

SMH

doesn't hurt either!

education, etc. with the side effect of union-busting.

he's a neolib with a good pr machine.

Eight years ago, when Cory Booker made his first bid for mayor of Newark, New Jersey, I exposed him in the pages of The Black Commentator as a product of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation and its network of right-wing think tanks. Back in 2002, Booker was a one-term Newark City Councilman and advocate of publicly-funded vouchers for private schools. Millions of dollars in contributions from his many friends on the Right allowed Booker to vastly outspend the incumbent mayor - but he still lost. I like to take a little credit for Booker's defeat, the first time around, for having warned Newark voters that Booker was a Trojan Horse for corporate right-wingers who were determined to privatize the public schools.

Booker won his second attempt to capture Newark City Hall, in 2006, and former Mayor Sharpe James went to prison for corruption. There wasn't too much Mayor Booker could do to privatize Newark's schools, since they've been under the control of the State of New Jersey since 1995. Then, last year, Booker got very lucky. New Jersey elected Chris Christie, a fiercely reactionary Republican, as Governor. Cory Booker - still the same Trojan Horse for the rich right-wingers that have funded his career - had found a political partner in his mission to turn over the public schools to corporations. Booker was already tight with the Black right-wing billionaire, Oprah Winfrey. It was on Oprah's show that fellow billionaire Mark Zukerberg, the FaceBook owner, announced a $100 million gift to Newark schools, to be administered jointly by Booker and the Republican Governor.

http://blackagendareport.com/content/cory-booker-clear-and-present-threat-public-education

But he's SOOO hot!

LOL

Don't be fooled by Booker's grandstanding and Christie's veto. Neither gives a damn about equality. He and Christie play from the same playbook. Both know the culture wars are loosing traction in the northeast and west coast. Chrisie is running for president in 2016 and he needs to convince the southern base of the Republic party that he's an authentic bigot, not a flip-flopping bigot (e.g. Romney

)http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/20442/chris-chistie-announces-he-is-running-for-president-in-2016

As for Booker, he and the D's have made backroom deals with Christie and the R's to endorse a neoliberal economic agenda to lower the millionaire tax, cut property taxes and privatize public schools by destroying the teacher's union. Further, when Lisa Jackson was NJ's EPA director, Booker arrogantly dismissed her by undermining environmental initiatives in favor of his corporate cronies.

The Ed Reform Gravy Train
It's a-puffin' into Newark - all aboard!

One of every three dollars of private money spent so far in Newark’s bid to reform its schools has gone to consultants and contractors, many with ties to Mayor Cory Booker and acting state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, records show.

The records, from the state Department of Education, are part of a spate of e-mails obtained by the Newark-based Education Law Center. They detail for the first time how the Foundation for Newark’s Future has spent the first $13 million of the $148 million donated by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other philanthropists to help turn around the city’s struggling public school system.

While the foundation — the group created to distribute the money — spent $7.4 million between January and September of this year on school-based programs, it has also spent $4.3 million on political and educational consultants. At least $3.9 million of the consultant spending has gone to companies and individuals with ties to Cerf and Booker, records show

Booker is a velvet screw. Christie is a blustering screw. Both will screw the 99%.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/chris-christie-vetoes-marriage-equali

And rumors aside, Americans are not yet ready for another single president. Look what happened with that Buchanan fellow.

It seems the last several Presidents have had dogs (with the exception of Bill Clinton, who had "Socks," the cat).

Oh, and don't forget W and his pet:


Hey, George! He'll want more to eat than that!

to closely aligned with the republiCONS...

While I appreciate his service and aid to those in need.

During the interview, I noticed him interjecting "By grace of god&quot or "Thanks to god" / "by god's will" / etc similar stuff)into his sentences more than a few times. Initially I did not pay any attention to it, but by the time he had mentioned it more than a few times, I was seriously questioning my first Impression of him.

No offense, but someone who puts god above everything else (or says God helped him do this that (a few times is kinda acceptable )) imho shows that he is looking to something else for guidance...a trait I would rather not see in a president. Would I vote for him if he is religious? sure. But I would refrain from voting for someone who brings God into every other sentence. If he is religious, be religious privately....instead of saying "god this" "god that" every other sentence.

Just my two cents.

It's well put together.

We, in America, are in the business of selling images. It never works out too well for most of us in the long run, but it's effective. It gets people sold. It gets junk sold.

Corey Booker - Smart, intelligent, compassionate, effective, educated and on it...we need him to oust lard-ass first, but he may be a good pick for national office eventually...

we don't want him for Gov of NJ. We want Christie out, but they'd better come up with someone better than Corey Booker.

I should mention former catholic, but nonetheless

not long ago. Great episode. He actually moved into a housing project (or at least low-income housing) to be amongst his constituents.

Also, great story about rescuing his neighbor.

and hyper-intelligent. I'm looking forward to more great things from him.

Note to self: Move in next door to this guy in case my house catches on fire.

he's a neo-lib.

seems democrats love that s**t these days.

Im embarrassed to have posted here with only a surface knowledge of the guy's policies. Privatization of public services and union busting are anathema to me, so it appears that, like many, I was suckered by his telepresence and PR assets.

And presto-change-o, there he is!!!

I think he's a sure bet. I've thought that since the first time I saw him on TV somewhere. I was stop-in-my-tracks impressed. And that's exactly what I thought - I bet he's gonna be president someday. Felt it again when he got all that coverage for heroism during that fire, and he was so selfless about it! And then I thought - "... and I'm DAMN glad he's OURS! 'Cause he IS gonna be president someday and I'd hate for somebody that sure-fire and appealing to be one of the bad guys!"

He is one of the best speachifiers you will ever hear.

A true American hero.

It sickens me to think what a national campaign elicit from the hate and rage-filled GOP.

It sickens me to think what a national campaign WOULD elicit from the hate and rage-filled GOP.

of public services, union-busting, public funding to religious schools, and the promotion of charter schools.

that he is also a wise and eloquent speaker. But when I read that story about his heroism, I immediately wanted him to run for President.

That's all I can say because he's voiced exactly what I think about so called religionists who just love telling everyone how spiritual he/she is but act like barbarians among the rest of us.

yeah, he's got looks, he's a great orator, he did a heroic act; however, if he's into privatizing the shite out of public departments and is against labor; why in the hell would I vote for him? It means he's a neolib and has more in common with the corporate stooge repug party. Why in the world would I vote for someone who is another one for giving for profit corporations, instead of non-profit government service, our tax money?

and has a 'D' by his name, seems it doesn't matter that he governs as a winger.

To...get this...allow this fourth highest boycotted corporation with a horrible record of indifference to the health of babies, to run a program to Combat Obesity in NewArk!!! Many activists have begged him NOT to get in bed with this corporate bad actor, and he is unresponsive. He should be ashamed. Apparently he doesn't understand that infant formula is directly connected to childhood obesity. Nestlé is Gerber. Nestlé is well known for hostility towards breastfeeding.

There's really nothing here.

I read here that he's smart and rescued a neighbour from a fire, and I see he has a nice promo poster.

Presidential material?