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| Mayor Booker: "I ain't worried about my nascent U.S. Senate campaign, so neither should you!" |
Sen. Frank Lautenberg finally recently announced his decision to retire, after three decades. That's good news for Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who steamrolled the U.S. Senator into making his announcement. Bad news for the moderate-liberal Democrat: he's having a hard time assembling a top-notch campaign team, especially after high-profile fundraiser Samantha Maltzman resigned after only one week. He has no campaign manager, no communications director and no top fundraiser. From the Newark Star-Ledger: "In less than eight weeks, the Newark mayor has managed to irritate
powerful members of his own party, warred with the national news media
and lost several high-level staffers. But in an interview, Booker said the perception his campaign is in disarray is false for one reason: 'There is no campaign.' Booker filed paperwork in January with the Federal Election
Commission to begin raising money for a 2014 Senate primary, but said
the move was largely to put himself on equal footing with other possible
contenders, such as Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.) who is able to
raise money in his Congressional account without officially declaring
his intentions to run for Senate."
The article continues: "When asked about his recent slip-ups, Booker dismissed it as 'swirl' being played out largely in media and political circles. 'We’re going to focus like a laser beam on continuing to deliver for
the city,' he said, citing the opening of new supermarkets, hiring of
more police and introducing a balanced city budget that doesn’t rely on
special aid from the state. He also scoffed at the notion that he has a 'glass jaw' when it comes to criticism, as suggested by a
recent story in the news site, Politico. 'From the time I’ve been mayor I’ve gotten a lot of negative media,'
Booker said. 'Anybody who’s come up a pathway in Newark politics knows
that this is rough and tumble.'"
