Even before the 2020 Democratic debates have begun, we’re already starting to get a sense of who the top candidates are. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and even South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg all look like formidable potential challengers to President Trump.
Then there’s Cory Booker.
The New Jersey senator’s campaign launch was greeted with media fanfare, but among the Democratic electorate, he’s proven a dud so far. Right now, RealClearPolitics polling averages put him at about 2%.
It’s easy to see why Booker’s campaign hasn’t lifted off yet: He’s utterly unremarkable and has no real constituency among the Democratic base.
The thing is, he could have a constituency, had he not flip-flopped on school choice.
Until recently, Booker stood out as a life-long champion of school choice, a rare and invaluable voice supporting educational freedom in the Democratic Party.
As mayor of Newark, N.J., he championed school choice, making it a pillar of his agenda. According to EdChoice, Booker even founded an organization, Excellent Education for Everyone, that promoted both charter schools as well as tuition voucher programs that help students attend private schools. Booker also worked with now-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for many years, even sitting on the board of the school choice advocacy organization American Federation for Children for years, and speaking at an AFC event as recently as 2016.
For a long time, Booker was great on this issue. But now he’s buckled under pressure from teachers’ unions and the far-left Democratic base, and run away from his record of supporting educational freedom.
In his nascent presidential campaign, he’s tried to paint himself as a staunch advocate of public education, and while not completely hostile, a skeptic of charter schools.
Sen. Cory Booker speaks in Newton, IA: “I’m a guy who believes in public education and, in fact, I look at some of the charter laws that are written about this country and states like this and I find them really offensive.” pic.twitter.com/gKFmEFKvGq
— The Hill (@thehill) May 26, 2019
Notably, Booker’s campaign website has an entire section entitled “Meet Cory,” laying out a lengthy personal history highlighting all the work he’s done to help people in his career. The words “school choice,” “charter,” and “voucher” do not appear anywhere on the page, despite the fact that he spent years fighting for educational freedom in New Jersey.
This flip-flop isn’t just unprincipled, it’s politically foolish. Over one-third of Democrats support school choice, and that support skyrockets among minorities. Nearly 60% of African American Democrats support it, and 52% of Hispanics do as well. Right now, Booker has completely failed to distinguish himself in a crowded field.
Maybe if Booker hadn’t reversed his position he would have a real constituency among those Democrats who care about getting their kids the best education possible.
