Cory Booker has the largest hype-to-accomplishment ratio of anybody on the political scene since . . . well, since a guy who had been in the U.S. Senate for two years decided to run for president.
Newark is pretty much the same economically struggling city it was when he started; as the New York Times noticed,
his constituents do not need to be reminded that six years after the mayor came into office vowing to make Newark a “model of urban transformation,” their city remains an emblem of poverty. . . . A growing number of Newarkers complain that he has proved to be a better marketer than mayor, who shines in the spotlight but shows little interest in the less-glamorous work of what it takes to run a city.
He ditched a Senate debate to hold a fundraiser with Oprah.
He broke his pledge to finish out his term as mayor.
So what is Booker good at? Photogenic publicity stunts like snow-shoveling, food-stamp diets, and, to his credit, fire rescue. Sure, he uses Twitter, but then again . . . so does Anthony Weiner.
Perhaps most important, Booker is good on television. Maybe that’s all he needs.
UPDATE: Another key component of Booker’s success: shamelessness.
“I do believe we have met requirements for disclosure and transparency and we’ve gone above and beyond what most of the — all of the candidates in this race have submitted to in terms of disclosure,” Booker told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview the day before the Democratic Senate primary.
See, no, you really didn’t.
The investment has been public for over a year, but he amended his federal financial disclosure forms in July 2013 to show his stake in Waywire is worth between $1 million and $5 million. He amended his forms with the city of Newark last Tuesday, a day before the Times story was published.
Later in that interview with NBC, he declares he believes that candidates should release their tax returns . . . and that he’ll release his tax returns sometime in the future — after tomorrow’s primary.