Sen Cory Booker, D-New Jersey is set to testify against Sen Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama during the latter’s confirmation hearings as Attorney General. The gambit is seen as a breach of Senate etiquette and, in any case, a quixotic gambit. After his adroit performance during the first day of hearings, Sessions is widely judged to be easily confirmed. So why is Booker, who had once allied with Sessions to pass civil rights legislation, going after his fellow senator?
The Washington Examiner suggests that the 47 year old African American senator wants to run for president in 2020.
The Democratic base demands that any candidate for president in the next election cycle prove his bona fides by mounting an attack on at least one of Donald Trump’s cabinet appointees. Sessions, who has had to endure bogus accusations of racism, is an obvious target.
Booker has an advantage over other possible Democratic candidates is that he is relatively young. Also, because of his race, he is likely to run as Barack Obama 2.0. The idea is a beguiling one for the Democratic base, still reeling from the unexpected thrashing of Hillary Clinton at the hands of Donald Trump.
Before his decision to go after Sessions, Booker had a reputation of reaching out to his fellow Republican senators to find common ground.
He was even spotted in one instance having dinner with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. He will have to tack hard left, however, if he is to be viable in the 2020 Democratic primaries.
Booker is a former mayor of Newark, a vegetarian, and has never been married, though he has denied being gay and has admitted to homophobia as a teenager.
How viable a candidate Booker would be in 2020 is something that cannot be predicted. Everything is dependent on how Donald Trump performs as president. If the economy has recovered, America gets the upper hand overseas, and Trump has avoided too many personal scandals, he is likely a cinch for reelection. In that case, leaving aside the scenario in which Trump declines to run for a second term, it may not matter if Booker is a telegenic, young senator and he might be well advised to run for re-election for his senate seat instead of the presidency.
