(ThyBlackMan.com) It all depends on who you ask, but it’s unlikely. Senator Cory Booker campaign manager, Addisu Demissie, warned that the struggling candidate needed to raise $1.7 million by the end of September 2019 in order to remain a viable contender in the 2020 race to the White House. “If our campaign is not in a financial position to grow, he’s not going to continue to consume resources and attention that can be used to focus on beating Trump, which needs to be everyone’s first priority.” Booker wound up exceeding that goal by half a million dollars. However, that was only a third of what South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigeig raised and a fourth of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. However, it was enough to keep him in the race.
Booker announced his bid or the presidency on February 1, 2019 with a YouTube video entitled, “We Will Rise,” which echoes his campaign slogan, “Together America Will Rise.” Booker intentionally chose the first day of Black History Month to do so. His idealistic rhetoric and 
defense for the rights of Blacks, women, and the LGBTQIA communities have been a mainstay since his day as Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Booker was one of the first candidates to build substantial campaign operations in key early states, and his ground game in Iowa was praised by local activists. Booker, along with senators, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Kristen Gillbrand, was part of the “Hell No Caucus” that overwhelmingly voted against President Trump’s nominees for administrative positions. Booker ambitious campaign does not accept contributions from CPACs of federally registered lobbyist, opposes the War on Drugs, and supports medical cannabis research as well as its decriminalization, His campaign also wants to see sweeping criminal justice reform, such as: ending of mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenders, funding for prisoner re-entry programs, and an end to for-profit private prisons.
2020 Democratic Presidential Race Who Qualify for the November debate
Candidate Polling average Media rating Individual contribution
Biden 27% #1 $37.6 million
Warren 23% #2 $49.8 million
Sanders 16% #3 $61.5 million
Buttigeig 4% #8 $51.5 million
Harris 4% #4 $35.5 million
Yang 2% #11 $15.1 million
’Rourke 2% #5 $17.5 million
Klobucher 2% #7 $9.1 million
Booker 2% #9 $13.9 million
Steyer 1% #6 $2.1 million
However, Many voters see Booker as friend material, and have no romantic interest so to speak. Nonetheless, Booker has real potential and it is totally possible that he could really pull this thing off. Let’s take a look at his background.
Booker attended Stanford University of a football scholarship, then attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and finally attended Yale Law School. His credentials certainly qualify him for the job as president. Also, he is the son of civil rights activists, and for two decades he lived in one of Newark, New Jersey’s “grittiest” neighborhood. He is the ninth African American senator in history, and once went inside a burning building to rescue one of his constituents. Now, if that’s not presidential, tell me what is? Compared to the current occupant of the White House, Booker’s resume is quite impressive, and he appears to really care about the needs of the American people. In his own words, “We’ve been building this campaign to win. This wasn’t a vanity play. The way you win is by going directly to the grassroots. People who are at the top of the polls right now are the people that walked into this with 100 percent name recognitions (Biden and Sanders.) Here a glimpse of how Booker could actually win among the various electoral groups.
Black Voters: Being Black gives Booker a direct connection to the Black vote and his appeal is not just based on his racial identity, but his overall inclusive ideology.
Party Loyalist: Booker makes for a more appealing nominee as he is a sitting senator whose high profile colleagues (Georgia’s Stacey Abrams and Alabama’s Doug Jones) have brought him along to campaign on their behalf. Also, he’s electable because of his broad appeal.
Asian and/or Hispanic Voters: There’s no obvious downside. He won senate elections in 2013 and 2014 where his constituents were 10 percent Asian and 20 percent Latino/Hispanic. Booker also speaks Spanish which certainly couldn’t hurt.
Millennials: Booker is only 49, which doesn’t make him quite a millennial but it’s closer than many of his presidential rivals. He’s a vegan, and veganism seems to be trending with this group. Millennials also tend to be more liberal. Booker an idealist as well, and that could potentially appeal to idealistic millennials.
The Left: A strong showing at the caucuses could establish him as one of the top candidates, especially in the south where Black votership is high. However, Senator Harris might make things more difficult as well as Biden’s close relationship with Barack Obama. Time will tell, however.
Cory Booker piece sources:
Christa Case Bryant. “With Love, Cory Booker Inside long shot bid for the White House. 07. Oct. 2019. The Christian Science Monitor. Web. 17. Oct. 2019
Alex Seitz-Wald. “Next One Out? Booker memo warns he may not be in the 2020 race much longer. 21. Sept. 2019. NBC News. Web. 17. Oct. 2019
The New Yorker Staff. “Cory Booker Considers His Presidential Prospects.” 28. Sept. 2019. The New Yorker. Web. 17. Oct. 2019
Jasmine C. Lee, Annie Daniel, Rebecca Lieberman, Blacki Miglozzi and Alexander Burns. “Which Candidate are Leading the 2020 Presidential Race 18. Oct. 2019. The New York Times. Web. 18. Oct. 2019
Staff Writer; Gustavus Betts
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