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As most Democrats try to peel themselves off the canvas today or simply choose to lie there inert for as long as it takes to not be seen or heard or to see or hear, sources close to U.S. Senator Cory Booker began quietly pounding the 2020 war drums for their guy. The Donald Trump stunned Hillary Clinton apparently had Booker on her VP short list, but opted instead for Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who was supposed to pull Virginia and North Carolina for the doomed ticket. Kaine barely squeaked Virginia, but fumbled away NC, and appears hardly muscled up...

PHILADELPHIA — As Cory Booker left a room full of Iowa Democrats, shaking hands and snapping selfies as he went, a man approached him and declared, “I hope to work for you in 2024!” During this week’s Democratic National Convention, Booker has helped his already-rising political star among Democrats, including from first-in-the-nation voting Iowa. The U.S. senator from New Jersey gave a well-received address to the convention earlier this week. On Wednesday morning he was similarly well received when he spoke to Iowa Democrats. Booker burst on the national scene years ago, first as mayor of Newark and then in...

After watching Republicans invoke Hillary Clinton’s name almost 300 times in just four days last week at their convention, Democrats returned the favor on day one of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The terms “Donald,” “Trump” or “Donald Trump” appeared in an ABC News transcript of the DNC 138 times unique times on Monday, including references to the Republican nominee as well as buildings, the university named for Trump and even the businessman’s line of steaks. Among notable speakers during the evening session of the convention, Trump was extremely popular. Major speakers such as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker...

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler and Colleen McCain Nelson broke the news that Hillary Clinton is vetting Elizabeth Warren for the vice presidency — but not vetting Bernie Sanders. In the process, they provided a shortlist of candidates that Clinton is considering: Beyond the Massachusetts senator, other prospective candidates include Labor Secretary Tom Perez; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Cory Booker of New Jersey; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Reps. Xavier Becerra of California and Tim Ryan of Ohio, several Democrats said. Now, this...

Could U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy's rapid political ascent land him on a presidential ticket in November? A report in USA Today Monday listed Murphy as among those who would be interested in the vice presidential spot alongside former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. A Murphy spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. "Some progressives would also offset a weakness of Clinton — who will be 69 by Election Day — that she can’t compensate for with her résumé: her age. Murphy is 42," reads the story by Heidi M Przybyla, the paper's senior...

Add Harry Reid to the list of troubles dogging Hillary Clinton as she stumbles toward the Democratic nomination for president. The powerful Senate minority leader delivered an unusual warning to Clinton on selecting a running mate, vowing to "do whatever I can" to stop her from choosing a Democratic senator from a state led by a Republican governor. “If we have a Republican governor in any of those states, the answer is not only no, but hell no and I would do whatever I can, and I think most of my Democratic colleagues here would say the same thing," Reid,...

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who supports a pending sentencing reform bill that would reduce sentences for violent criminals, wants America to have a “candid conversation” about what violent crimes should be treated as violent crimes. ... Booker is a supporter of the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 (SRCA), which is being pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, resident Barack Obama ... Not likely to be included in this conversation: Victims of crime, such as Army veteran Stanley Carter. He died after Malcolm B. Benson robbed and shot him at a Detroit bus stop in September...

We hope Sens. Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand are giving that devastating new profile of resident Obama’s foreign-policy guru a careful read. Because they’ll learn how they were all played for fools on the Iran nuclear deal by that aide, Ben Rhodes — and the resident. That applies especially to Schumer, who will be the Senate Democratic leader come January. Booker and Gillibrand hewed to the party line in backing the deal. Schumer gave it a thumb’s-down — but then refused to lobby his colleagues to take his side. Sen. Bob Menendez, on the other hand, is looking...

Rev. Al Sharpton will push America’s black churches to lobby in favor of the Iran nuclear deal, a new report says. Sharpton is launching his push backing President Obama’s pact with Tehran this weekend, according to The Huffington Post. “I am calling on ministers in black churches nationwide to go to their pulpits Sunday and have their parishioners call their senators and congressmen to vote yes on the Iran nuclear plan,” he said Friday. “We have a disproportionate interest, being that if there is a war, our community is always disproportionately part of the armed services, and that a lot...

Twenty-seven senators want President Obama to block federal agencies and contractors from asking job applicants about prior criminal convictions. The senators, including 26 Democrats and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), want Obama to take executive action to "ban the box," referring to a question on job applications that asks if an applicant has any convictions. "We ask you to require federal contractors and agencies to refrain from asking job applicants about prior convictions until later in the hiring process," they said in a letter to Obama on Monday. "This policy would eliminate unnecessary barriers to employment for all job...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul joined Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand Tuesday to propose legislation to legalize medical marijuana on the federal level. The bill, termed the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, allow access for veterans and put a final stop to federal raids on dispensaries, among other things. This is the first time a medical marijuana bill has been introduced in the Senate, whereas the House has seen 15 pieces of legislation on marijuana reform in the last session of Congress, according to Marijuana.com. The move...

The final numbers are not yet in, but it seems clear that the White House-orchestrated campaign to boycott Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is collapsing. Despite two weeks of intense anti-Netanyahu leaks, insults, and pressure, the White House has so far succeeded in persuading only a handful of Democratic members of Congress to stay away from the speech. A grand total of two Senators and twelve Representatives have publicly announced that they are boycotting Israel’s prime minister. Assuming that those figures change only marginally in the days ahead, it will mean that 98% of the Senate and 95%...

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, vegans and vegetarians have just one request. Please don’t call it Turkey Day. Instead, hungry eaters on plant-based diets are advocating the consumption of fake bird options, such as Tofurky.

A bipartisan group of senators from across the political spectrum—from Elizabeth Warren and Patrick J. Leahy to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio—wants President Barack Obama to speak out and act to support Hong Kong’s democracy movement.They don’t specify exactly what they want Obama to do—they say “demonstrable, meaningful steps”—but note that a 1992 law “authorizes you to suspend trade and economic provisions should Beijing not provide sufficient autonomy for Hong Kong.”Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is president pro tempore and Judiciary chairman, leads the letter with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rubio.“The people of Hong Kong have sent a strong...

Jeff Bell was a reform conservative before it was cool. He’s spent his career arguing with a risk-averse Republican establishment. He pushed Ronald Reagan to embrace the supply-side doctrine of tax cuts before deficit reduction. He spent the 1990s warning the GOP that its tax policy favored investment capital over human capital, corporate interests over working families. He designed a family-friendly flat tax that reduced payroll taxes, increased the child tax credit, taxed capital gains and regular income at the same rate, and ended business expensing. Payroll tax relief and a generous child tax credit are elements of today’s reform...

On Friday, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Corey Booker (D-NJ) offered a medical marijuana amendment on the floor of the Senate. The bill is a massive win for states’ rights, as it outlaws the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency from undermining state marijuana laws and prohibits the DEA from interfering with the production of hemp in states where it is legal. There is simply no reason the federal government should be trampling over state laws to perform armed SWAT-team raids on state-legal medical marijuana dispensaries. Destroying property and hauling entrepreneurs off to jail is not the proper...

As the old saying goes, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” Four years ago we saw the “fool and his money…” play out with a great flourish on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah did a show telling us what a great guy Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire owner of Facebook is for pledging to donate $100 million to the City of Newark. Zuckerberg naively believed the money would be used to improve Newark’s school system. Of course the then mayor of Newark Cory Booker was only too happy to take this White Liberal sucker’s money to complete the “..are...

One week to the June 3rd GOP primary for senator in New Jersey! This week is CRUCIAL for Rich Pezzullo, as he is running in perhaps the most underwatched yet IMPORTANT primary in the country. He is polling either #1 or #2, depending on the poll or the flavor of the day. Nonetheless, he is the most consistently conservative candidate in the race who will caucus with the Ted Cruz / Mike Lee wing of the Republican Party if he wins the primary, then beats Cory Booker. I'll be blunt: This race is not just important for the senate seat,...

Newark, April 10–New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D) may be headed for a more difficult reelection campaign this fall than many political professionals seem to think. The reason: the mainstream press, which has been his biggest booster, is now beginning to question not only his veracity but his competence as Newark mayor, which recently took a hit from a report issued by the state comptroller. When he announced his intention to seek a Senate seat, Booker was considered a shoo-in. But the Senate campaign turned out to be no coronation. Although polls in early August had Booker with a 35-point...