Cory Booker swears off corporate PAC donations ahead of 2020 campaign.
Ahead of the upcoming 2020 election, Cory Booker announced to local press that he would no longer receive corporate donations in any future campaign which were, as he described, 'sources of corrosive effects in politics.' While the main announcement was his refusal to accept corporate PAC donations, he also listed fossil fuel donations, super PAC money, donations from federal lobbyists, insurance company money, and ending any association or ties with closed-door, high-dollar fundraisers. In his speech to the press, he clarified that, while this announcement may help him receive 'backlash' from high-dollar, wealthy donors, it would bring himself 'closer to his constituents, whom are predominantly working families.'
He described the existing campaign finance system as 'corrosive and systemic' and that 'the only way we will break it is with individual senators and representatives refusing to participate in it, one-by-one.' He cited America's growing shift to the right-wing over recent decades on the Overton window, specific votes like TPP, the Trump tax cuts, extension of the Bush tax cuts, etc, and overall decline of wages as evidence of corrupting influence of money, and vouched for a complete overhaul of the existing campaign finance system in favor of public finance or a public voucher system similar to the Seattle model.
Barack Obama reportedly mentoring Cory Booker for 2020 campaign.
Anonymous reports are suggesting Cory Booker, U.S Senator and potential presidential candidate, has a behemoth of a surrogate behind him. Former President Barack Obama has reportedly been mentoring the U.S Senator, whom is a longtime ally and friend of the former President, and has been talking up his name with close political allies. Cory Booker was a surrogate for Obama both in 2008 and 2012, and many have compared his candidacy to that of the former President. Both have a similar passion for issues such as climate change, criminal justice reform, raising incomes, but the main similarities come from their impoverished upbringing and their ability to persevere despite it and inspire people. Booker has become a poster child of that poor upbringing in his ability to reverse a trend of urban blight as Newark Mayor and build a progressive record in Congress.
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