Apr.04

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Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Another Look, Part II: Booker Is a Real Genius

There's another item we'd like to revisit, one that actually appeared right after the revisited item above. There are a handful of moments in American history that catapulted a politician into the national consciousness. Theodore Roosevelt leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill. Harry S. Truman leading the Senate committee that rooted out waste and corruption in World War II defense contracts. Richard Nixon engaging with Alger Hiss. Barack Obama speaking to the 2004 DNC.

When we wrote up the marathon speech from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Tuesday, we weren't sure what the long-term impact would be. You can never really say, in the moment: "This is going to elevate this person to national prominence, and to the front ranks of their political party." And yet, that may be what happened here. Consider some of the glowing comments about the speech that appeared on Wednesday and Thursday:

• Emma Brockes, The Guardian (UK): "To date, the art of the political spectacle has been almost exclusively Trump's for the taking. It was a relief, finally, to see a Democrat seize and hang on to the mic."
  
  
• Renee Graham, The Boston Globe: "Booker's remarkable day was a timely jolt and a reminder that the way forward may be long, but will never be found in silence."
  
  
• Bea L. Hines, The Miami Herald: "As an old woman, I knew I didn't have the strength to match Booker's. But I had something else that was more powerful than physical strength—prayer. I could pray for Booker. I believe it was the prayers of the many thousands watching him deliver his speech, as well as the thousands who didn't have the stamina to hold out till the end of his speech at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, that saw him through."
  
  
• Hayes Brown, MSNBC: "It wasn't technically a filibuster that Booker conducted. He wasn't talking to delay a vote on any specific agenda item. Instead, Booker said, in giving his marathon speech, he was 'disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate.' After watching his heroic 25-hour long effort, I say our country would be better off if promoting the values Booker lifted up was the normal business of the Senate."
  
  
• Myron B. Pitts, The Fayetteville Observer: "While Booker did not speak for everybody, he spoke for tens of millions of Americans—and I am one—who are shocked to see the second Trump presidency seek to change the nature of our country."
  
  
• Nia-Malika Henderson, Bloomberg: "In memorably railing against Trump, Booker can help rebrand his party as more populist, less risk-averse and more willing to try... something. He can also help rebrand himself, just as the old and ineffective guard falters and is urged to the exits. Though Booker's speech was planned, with 1,164 pages of prepared material and hundreds of stories from ordinary Americans hurt by Trump's policies, it was also raw and visceral and real and angry. And that's exactly what millions of voters so desperately want in these abnormal times. He did something. Now his colleagues and American voters must do more."
  
  
• Jonathan V. Last, The Bulwark: "Cory Booker's filibuster didn't 'accomplish' anything. He didn't stop a piece of legislation from being passed or forge a new political coalition. He didn't launch a political movement or bring down Donald Trump. The world spins on today precisely as it did before he stood up to talk. But by God, Cory Booker's filibuster mattered. Or at least it mattered to me."
  
  
• Republican pollster Frank Luntz: "Of course, every Republican watching will say, 'This is nonsense.' But he is not speaking just to Republicans, he's speaking to Americans, and what I saw over the last 25 hours absolutely blew me away."

And Booker didn't just reach the pundit class. The various livestreams of the speech attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers, with more than 500,000 people watching at the peak, which is approximately 499,990 more than watch your usual U.S. Senate floor speech. Booker was also all over social media, with his TikTok clips of the address ultimately piling up an aggregate total of 350 million likes.

It's still possible that, in a week or two, the speech will just be a footnote. But it's also possible that he just set himself on a glide path to replace Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 2 years, or to become his party's presidential nominee in 2028. If this does turn out to be a game-changing moment like that, we'd hate to look back and see we did not give the address substantive attention. (Z)