Cory Booker Suspends Presidential Campaign Amidst Fundraising Woes and Weak Polling Numbers
Shane Trejo
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Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) officially suspended his presidential campaign on Monday after consistently lagging behind top contenders in the polls and failing to raise enough money to be a serious candidate.
Booker did not qualify for the seventh debate of Democrat presidential hopefuls, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, because of his low polling numbers. Polls have also shown that Booker is likely to perform poorly in the Iowa caucus, which is only weeks away. In lieu of this bad news, Booker has decided to suspend his campaign.
“It’s with a full heart that I share this news — I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for president,” Booker wrote to his supporters in an email. “It was a difficult decision to make, but I got in this race to win, and I’ve always said I wouldn’t continue if there was no longer a path to victory.”
“Our campaign has reached the point where we need more money to scale up and continue building a campaign that can win — money we don’t have, and money that is harder to raise because I won’t be on the next debate stage and because the urgent business of impeachment will rightly be keeping me in Washington. So I’ve chosen to suspend my campaign now, take care of my wonderful staff, and give you time to consider the other strong choices in the field,” he added.
Booker has built his political career around being a uniter who would be willing to reach across the aisle to Republicans in order to solve problems. In an age where Democrats are more radicalized and intransigent than ever, Booker attempted to reinvent himself on the fly, and his futile efforts impressed no one.
The writing has been on the wall for months that Booker’s presidential hopes were not going to come to fruition:
Booker hoped to usurp the “hope and change” mantle from former President Barack Obama in 2020, but times have changed within the Democratic Party. The radical socialist wing of the Party has taken hold, and Booker – who once sold himself as a reformer who would work with Republicans to solve problems facing America – has failed to capture their support in a crowded field.
For example, Booker once appeared at a Devos-funded debate 19 years ago where he unequivocally endorsed school choice in a contentious debate.
“I applaud Charter Schools. I know they are working,” Booker explained to a hostile audience. His relationship with the Devos family grew from there, before he did a convenient about-face.
He has reversed his stance completely on the campaign trail, saying that “the evidence has become clear that vouchers do not help — and in fact, hurt — the cause of educational equity.”
Booker’s perceived inauthenticity has resulted in him receiving a great deal of criticism from both sides of the aisle.
Booker’s campaign is over as the large Democrat field of presidential contenders continues to narrow with primary and caucus season right around the corner.
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