Booker's Vote That Sparked Chaos Now Sparks Debate

Cops had to use pepper spray after Cory Booker's opponents stormed the stage

As Booker Rising mentioned a few days ago, Newark Mayor Cory Booker merely beat his opponents at their own game with that well-played procedural vote. It ain't his fault that he anticipated that his politically unsophisticated opponents on the city council would leave the chambers, thus falling short of the quorum that enabled him to cast the vote. From the Newark Star-Ledger, about the moderate-liberal Democrat: "When Newark city leaders return from the holiday weekend, Mayor Cory Booker and his adversaries will take to the political battlefield over the mayor’s appointment of an ally to the City Council, a move that sparked a near-riot at Tuesday night’s council meeting."

The article continues: "The appointment incensed Booker’s political opponents in Newark, but as he considers a run for governor next year, observers and experts disagree over the effect it will have on his image. Some argue it shows Booker has the courage of his convictions. Others say it tarnishes his anti-machine image. 'It certainly was a misstep,' said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. 'It makes him look more political than he likes to look.'"

What created all this political drama at the Newark city council meeting? "Not only were residents denied a chance to address the council but council members themselves were denied the chance to speak, or even nominate another candidate. The opening on the nine-member council arose when Donald Payne Jr. was elected to Congress to assume the 10th District seat his father, Donald Payne Sr., occupied for more than 20 years. John Sharpe James, son of the former mayor, came in fifth in a 2010 run for four at-large council seats. He argued he was the logical pick to fill the seat. An avowed Booker opponent, James would have represented a loss of control for Booker on the council and could have scuttled a year’s worth of the mayor’s agenda."

Other political observers argue that it makes Mayor Cory Booker look good: "Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University, said Booker comes out looking like a strong executive — an image he will need to cultivate in a possible battle against Gov. Chris Christie. 'Cory has made a name for himself as very conciliatory and very diplomatic,' Harrison said. 'Within Democratic circles I think there was....the question that Cory is great being Cory, but could he hold his own against a very aggressive Chris Christie?'"