Cory Booker Reportedly Close to Announcing White House Bid

Cory Booker
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during the “Linking Together: March to Save Our Care" Rally at the U.S. Capitol on June 28, 2017. Democratic Party Leaders and others spoke to defend the Affordable Care Act and to defeat Republican Party efforts to repeal so called "Obama Care" and replace it with "Trump Care" alternatives. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Mobius in Mobile)

By LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE

Lauren Victoria Burke

Will Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) follow in the footsteps of another charismatic U.S. Senator who shocked the world in 2008 in a victorious march to the White House? Soon we will know.

The New Jersey Senator has been keynoting, event hopping and visiting New Hampshire in a way that looks quite presidential. He also has not denied he is considering a White House run. Booker is widely expected to enter the ring.

“The definition of hope isn’t that you see some light at the end of the tunnel, or something on the horizon that gives you hope, hope is generated from within,” Booker told a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire in December as reported by ABC. The theme of “hope” was familiar from the 2008 presidential campaign of former President Barack Obama.

In early December, it was reported that Booker would decide to run over the holidays. The pressure after the holidays increased when his Senate colleague, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), announced that she was running for President on January 1st. That followed news that the presidential aspirant and former congressional colleague of Booker’s, former congressman Julian Castro of Texas, would be announcing a 2020 run on January 12.

“During the holidays I’m gonna sit down and take a lot of stock about what I want to do next — whether I want to run for president or stay in the Senate and help this continued movement in our country to reinvigorate our democracy,” Booker said in an interview.

The 2020 field of Democrats running for President is expected to be large. Another of Booker’s colleagues, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is also expected to run for the White House. The field is all but certain to be one of the most diverse in history.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke