While Sen. Cory Booker has established an extensive early presidential state infrastructure, he’s posted modest fundraising numbers and is struggling to break out in early polls. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images 2020 Elections Booker jolts campaign by launching national tour The New Jersey senator looks to re-energize his presidential bid with a rally and a sharpened message.

NEWARK — Lagging in the early polls and in fundraising, Cory Booker returned home to re-energize his presidential campaign Saturday, kicking off a new phase designed to sharpen his message and distinguish himself from the pack of 17 other Democrats vying for the White House.

The New Jersey senator rolled out his “Justice for All” tour, a two-week national stint designed to stake out policy positions and frame his campaign around the theme of justice — economic justice, environmental justice and criminal justice, among other forms.


“Too many people believe the forces that are tearing us apart are stronger than the bonds that hold us together. I don’t believe that,” Booker said, kicking off the tour in New Jersey’s most populous city. “I believe we will achieve things that other people say are impossible. I believe we will make justice real for all.”

Booker hit all of the broad points of his issue agenda Saturday, expanding beyond promoting love and unity — the earlier messaging that failed to offer much detail on what he would get accomplished if elected. None of the ideas were new, rather they were packaged together comprehensively for the first time.

He pledged to build a clean energy economy by holding polluters to task, giving everyone the ability to earn a fair wage, promising affordable child care, and creating a national paid family and medical leave program.

Saturday’s gathering at a park nestled in Newark’s downtown district was made to feel more like a block party than a campaign event. With the sun beating down, supporters visited food trucks, face-painting stations and animal balloon-makers.

But it was also packed with representatives from all sectors of New Jersey’s Democratic political class, from powerful county chairs to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez to Gov. Phil Murphy. An estimated 4,000-plus supporters showed up, and they brought considerable energy with them. At the end of the speech, they swarmed Booker to get a few seconds of face time.

Booker chose Newark as the launch for a reason: it’s the city where he got his start in politics, first as a city councilman and then as mayor.

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Newark, he said, is a city that has always been “impatient for justice.”

“Well, here in Newark, we refused to wait,” Booker said. “We didn’t just talk about the injustice of people not being able to buy fresh fruits and vegetables — we opened grocery stores in food deserts. We got people to invest here. We opened new businesses here, created thousands of new jobs here together.”

Saturday's festivities stood in stark contrast to his first Newark campaign appearance, held shortly after declaring his candidacy. Back then, Booker stood outside his home in the frigid February weather, fielding questions from reporters.

This time, Booker sought to use his hometown as the backdrop for a reset of sorts. While he has established an extensive early presidential state infrastructure, he’s posted modest first quarter fundraising numbers and is struggling to break out of the pack in the early polls.

“We’ve gone from four candidates when Cory announced in early February to 18 in the race now," Booker campaign manager Addisu Demissie said on a Thursday conference call with reporters. “This is a moment to be able to say clearly, and above the din of what’s happening on the day to day basis, why Cory is in the race and what he’s fighting for.”

The senator’s campaign dismisses his standing in the polls (Booker is hovering around 3 to 5 percent) and the modest fundraising haul (coming in right now at about $5 million). Not only is it early in the primary, aides say, they are putting their energy into what’s important at the moment: the campaign has already held more than 60 events, and continues to build out robust organizing efforts in key states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

“No candidate can boast the staff infrastructure and local support that we have,” Demissie said. “We’re not building this campaign to win a poll in April of 2019, we are trying to win the election.”

New Jersey’s governor agreed.

“It’s a huge field, really early, and a lot of time on the clock,” Murphy told reporters ahead of the event. “He’s putting the pieces in place as he should be right now, and I think the really good days are ahead of him.”

Booker’s remarks, which ran for more than 30 minutes, were peppered with policy ideas and even a few sharp attacks on President Donald Trump.

“Unlike this President, I won’t ignore or give license to white supremacy,” he told the crowd, prompting cheers. “We will no longer wait for America to stand up for justice around the world. We will strengthen our alliances and defend human rights, not coddle dictators or squander America’s moral authority.”

As for policy, Booker tied together many of the campaign’s already existing themes: fully funding public schools, passing comprehensive immigration reform, fighting for Medicare for All, and using the federal government’s bargaining power to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Booker also highlighted his proposal that he says will help to close the racial wealth gap. He wants to create a federally funded savings account for every child born in America, in which kids from lower-income families would see larger benefits. They accrue up to nearly $50,000 to help pay for college or put a down payment on a home.

Booker, hewing to a familiar personal theme, said that a campaign fueled by love can still win.

“Critics will tell us that a campaign powered by grace and love and a deep faith in each other can’t beat that. But I say it’s the only way we win,” he said. “The president wants a race to the gutter and to fight us in the gutter. But to win, we have to fight from higher ground in order to bring this country to higher ground.”

