海角大神

The first time New Hampshire state Sen. Martha Hennessey heard Sen. Cory Booker speak, he reminded her of a Baptist preacher. 鈥淗e was so 鈥榣ove and hope,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淔rankly, I was almost in tears.鈥�

At the same time, she thought to herself,聽I鈥檓 not sure America is going to like this. This might be a little touchy-feely.

Senator Hennessey and her husband hosted the presidential candidate overnight in early summertime, as part of his circuit of homestays to get to know the state. When he arrived at their home in Hanover, she was still driving back from a late session at the statehouse. It was up to her husband to figure out what to feed an ex-football star turned vegan. The verdict? Rice cakes with freshly ground almond butter.聽

The next morning, as the couple鈥檚 Maltese-poodle mixes climbed into Senator Booker鈥檚 lap, the 50-year-old bachelor chatted with them and, at his staff鈥檚 urging, told them about his new girlfriend, actress and activist Rosario Dawson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like he was a friend that was visiting us from college,鈥� says Senator Hennessey. But while she enjoyed the visit, the New Hampshire Democrat 鈥� who鈥檇 been hoping to endorse a female nominee 鈥� wasn鈥檛 ready to commit.聽

In this season of political courtship, many voters so far seem to see Senator Booker as 鈥渇riend鈥� material.聽鈥淗e鈥檚 not the one that they have a romantic interest in,鈥� says聽Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in New Jersey, who has been following the senator since he first ran for mayor of Newark in 2002.聽The聽latest Monmouth poll聽shows Senator Booker in a five-way tie for 8^th聽place among Democratic candidates, with 1% of the vote.

Many Democrats are furious with President Donald Trump, and looking for a fighter to lead them; one voter even asked the athletic New Jersey senator to punch the president in the face. But Senator Booker is trying to convince them to take a different approach. Over and over, the son of civil rights activists, who for nearly two decades tested his ideals in Newark鈥檚 grittiest neighborhoods,聽insists that love is the mightiest weapon with which to combat the nation鈥檚 challenges.

鈥淚 was raised by parents who did not flinch in telling me about the wretchedness of life, about the bigotry, and hate, and violence,鈥� he says in a phone interview.聽鈥淏ut they taught me that you don鈥檛 combat that by abandoning your virtues, but by doubling down on them, and that that is in fact a harder way. ... It takes a toughness and a strength. But ultimately it鈥檚 the best way to heal, to empower, to strengthen, to overcome.鈥�

鈥淭he best proving ground鈥�

If it weren鈥檛 for a white New Jersey lawyer moved by the 1965 showdown between civil rights protesters and police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Senator Booker may have never become the nation鈥檚 ninth African American senator.

That lawyer, who couldn鈥檛 afford a ticket to join the protesters in Alabama, decided instead to offer pro bono legal work for the Fair Housing Council. Several years later, he played a role in helping Cory Booker鈥檚 parents buy a home in predominantly white Harrington Park despite the virulent opposition of the real estate agent involved.

From that community of relative privilege, young Cory was able to springboard to Stanford on a football scholarship, then on to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and finally to Yale Law School. But it was in Newark that he found 鈥� and honed 鈥� his sense of mission. He moved into Brick Towers, an apartment complex in the inner city that had fallen into disrepair and was turned over to Newark鈥檚 housing authority several years later. The elevators were often broken and the stairwells littered with drug paraphernalia and feces.

It was a neighbor, Virginia Jones, who helped him see the potential of the city and its residents. And it was she who held him when he emerged one morning, devastated by the murder of a young man whom he had tried in vain to save the previous night.

Ms. Jones, who years before had lost her own son to a shooting, urged him through his tears:聽Stay faithful.

鈥淔or me, Newark was the best proving ground because I ... saw just awful, awful realities,鈥� says Senator Booker. The experience, he says, made him understand the impulse to hate or the desire to lash out. 鈥淏ut what I also realized was that in the times where the most challenging, hurtful, painful things come forward, you actually see the greatest of human spirit, the greatest of human potential. I saw people who were able to ignite the best in others. And that鈥檚 the model of leadership that I think we need at this time in America.鈥�

Ugly realities

While Cory Booker may talk about love, he harbors no illusions about the ugly realities of life 鈥� or politics.聽He knows what it鈥檚 like to have a dirty diaper thrown at him as when, as city councilman, he was leading a 10-day hunger strike to protest inadequate policing of drug dealers. Or to be called a Republican and a 鈥淸gay slur] white boy鈥� by Newark鈥檚 five-term incumbent Mayor Sharpe James, who also alleged that his challenger was taking money from the Ku Klux Klan.

In that 2002 contest, featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary 鈥淪treet Fight,鈥� Cory Booker lost to Mr. James by 6 percentage points. Four years later, he came back to win by the largest margin in Newark鈥檚 history. As mayor, he teamed up with Republican Gov. Chris Christie to secure a $100 million investment from Facebook鈥檚 Mark Zuckerberg in the city鈥檚 schools, and raised $300 million more through other philanthropic聽efforts.

As much as he did to champion Newark, some saw his ambitions 鈥� for the city and himself 鈥� as eclipsing the less-glamorous parts of the job.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to paint a house, but he didn鈥檛 care at all about the plumbing and the electric,鈥� says a Democratic operative in New Jersey. 鈥淏ut honestly before him, nobody cared about anything in Newark.鈥�

The city has continued to attract development聽since Senator Booker left for Capitol Hill in 2013,聽but it has also become engulfed in a lead water聽crisis due to corroding pipes. The Booker campaign has vociferously denied that he bears any responsibility, noting that city water tests two years after he left still bore no signs of elevated lead levels.聽

In his book, 鈥淯nited,鈥� Senator Booker admits he too often tried to solve things personally. He famously went into a burning building to rescue a woman, and shoveled residents鈥� driveways during a blizzard.聽Critics have accused him of staging such 鈥渟tunts鈥� for political gain. But whether he was moved by ambition, genuine care, or both, he has lived the problems of inner city America in a way that few presidential candidates have.

鈥淭here are a lot of places Cory Booker could have gone to be more powerful,鈥� says Herb Jackson, a veteran New Jersey political reporter who covered his Senate campaigns. 鈥淗e is motivated by these things, I think sincerely.鈥�

Now, in what Senator Booker calls 鈥渁 moral moment鈥� for the country, he is highlighting that experience in an effort to persuade voters that he knows best how to unite the country around shared ideals.

鈥淚 am here right now because a white guy on a couch, at a time of moral trial in our nation, did not just sit there,鈥� he tells a crowd in Bedford, New Hampshire, on a late September morning. 鈥淗e did not even know that I would one day exist, but he stood up for the ideals of America. And why am I running for president? Because they鈥檙e in peril. Our dream is in trouble.鈥�

A civic gospel

Over the plinking of forks at Politics & Eggs, a staple on the New Hampshire campaign circuit, Senator Booker preaches his civic gospel.

In thundering tones, he transports聽the crowd from the colonial charm of the Bedford Village Inn to a memorial in Memphis, Tennessee, erected at the assassination site of Martin Luther King Jr.

Behold, here cometh a dreamer ... let us slay him and see what becomes of his dream, reads the plaque, quoting from the biblical story of Joseph, who was thrown into a pit by his envious brothers. Senator Booker, a Baptist, sees it as a metaphor for the state of the nation.

鈥淎merica, we are in a pit right now,鈥� he tells the crowd. 鈥淲e are in a pit right now when we hate each other just because we vote differently.鈥�

Some might call Senator Booker himself a dreamer 鈥撀燼nd not in a good way. With 10 days left in September, his campaign told supporters he might quit the race if they couldn鈥檛 raise $1.7 million by the end of the month. He wound up exceeding that goal by nearly half a million dollars, bringing his total haul for the third quarter to $6 million. But that鈥檚 still less than a third of what Mayor Pete Buttigieg of聽South Bend, Indiana, raised, and a fourth of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders鈥� total.

鈥淎 message of inclusiveness and cooperation isn鈥檛 something that either party wants to hear right now,鈥� says Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Still, he adds, that could change before the New Hampshire primary, expected to be held Feb. 11. As the primary draws near and more voters start paying attention, he says, Senator Booker may see his support grow,聽鈥渂ecause then you鈥檙e getting away from the activists, and getting down to regular rank-and-file voters.鈥�

Some 40% of the state鈥檚 voters are independents and are allowed to vote in the Democratic primary. Nationwide,聽only 9% of Democrats聽say they have made up their mind.

Jon Morgan was the first New Hampshire state senator to endorse Senator Booker. 鈥淲e need more people like Cory Booker to be involved in rebuilding our country after the damage of the past several years under this current administration,鈥� he says in a phone聽interview.

鈥淗old on one second, my 1-year-old is trying to kill himself,鈥� he adds, as wailing can be heard in the background. 鈥淭he 2020 results are incredibly important to me, but ... I鈥檓 more worried about the trajectory that we鈥檙e on for the next generation of Americans 鈥� my kids included,鈥� he says, noting the increasing animosity between those with differing political opinions.

In mid-September, Senator Hennessey followed suit. In聽endorsing聽Senator Booker, she noted that he聽champions聽many of the same progressive ideals as his fellow Democratic presidential contenders 鈥� 鈥淢edicare for All,鈥� gun licensing and an assault weapon ban, equality for LGBTQ people, and creating a White House Office of Reproductive Freedom for 鈥渁dvancing abortion rights.鈥澛燘ut it was his different tone, she says, focusing on unifying the country rather than pouring fuel on the anti-Trump bonfire, that clinched her support.

鈥淚 would love to just talk about all the things I can鈥檛 stand about the current administration ... but I鈥檓 not finding it very productive,鈥� says Senator Hennessey.聽鈥淚 need hope, I need myself to believe that not only can we get all the great progressive measures but also that we can learn to think about each other again and care for each other again and somehow put hatred aside.鈥�

Back at Politics & Eggs, as Senator Booker is building to a crescendo, phones start buzzing as official Washington begins blowing up over the just-released whistleblower complaint that has prompted an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Undeterred, the senator goes on.

鈥淲hat will become of our dream? ... Will it become divided against itself? Or will we stand up and say, not on my watch,鈥� he asks. 鈥淭his election will not be about one guy and one office, it will be about reclaiming the dream. And if we do that, watch out America, watch out the world, we will rise.鈥�

And then the well-coiffed crowd of businessmen and state legislators聽does something that rarely happens at Politics & Eggs. They rise, one by one, and give their guest a standing ovation.