ADVERTISEMENT

Booker Pushes to Dismantle Biden’s ‘Electability’ Claims

Booker Pushes to Dismantle Biden’s ‘Electability’ Claims

(Bloomberg) -- Cory Booker is pushing to unsettle Joe Biden ahead of next week’s Democratic debate, questioning the intensity of the former vice president’s appeal to black voters just as he prepares to be flanked by African-American candidates on the debate stage in Detroit.

And despite Biden’s vow on Wednesday that he would no longer be "polite" with his opponents, he didn’t respond to Booker at a National Urban League event Thursday, instead leaving the counter punches to his staff.

Without mentioning Biden by name, the New Jersey senator challenged his claims of "electability," asking African-American voters to consider whether a potential Democratic nominee will drive general election turnout in their communities. "We will not beat Donald Trump unless we engage, energize and excite a massive voter turnout in the African-American community," Booker said at the Indianapolis event.

Two polls out Thursday show Biden remains in the lead. A Quinnipiac poll in Ohio shows Biden as the only Democrat who voters believe could beat Trump in a general election matchup, and a Monmouth University poll showed Biden getting 39% support among Democratic primary voters in South Carolina, the first test of black voter support for Democrats in 2020. In that survey, Booker polled in single digits.

The implication of Booker’s comment was clear -- Biden might run into the same problem that Hillary Clinton had in 2016, failing to inspire African-American voters to the polls. Even if Booker’s attacks don’t directly benefit him, they could put Biden in an awkward position at the July 31 debate, where Booker and Kamala Harris, the other major black candidate in the race, will flank Biden.

Kate Bedingfield, his deputy campaign manager, responded to Booker by noting his shallow support among African-American voters. "We couldn’t agree more," Bedingfield wrote on Twitter in response to Booker’s quote.

“This is strange to hear now after @CoryBooker was so enthusiastic about @JoeBiden and his record in 2008,” Biden rapid response director Andrew Bates wrote on Twitter, linking to an article that includes Booker praising Biden. “What changed?”

In a radio interview that aired before Booker’s Thursday speech, Biden was asked how he’d drive up voter turnout among African Americans. He said little about himself and instead focused on opposition to Trump. "I think the guy that’s firing them up right now is Trump," he told host Tom Joyner on Urban One radio. "I hope I can fire them up too. That’s been my experience out on the trail. But the truth is he’s done a lot."

Asked if he has a "black agenda" like some other presidential hopefuls, Biden said "the black agenda is America’s agenda."

Booker has been spoiling for an attention-grabbing confrontation on Biden’s record on race and criminal justice, on Tuesday calling him "the proud architect of a failed system" as a lead author of the 1994 crime bill that during a national crime wave created longer sentences for black convicts than whites. In June, he demanded an apology from Biden for his fond recollections of working with segregationist senators.

"It is easy to call Donald Trump a racist now -- you get no great badge of courage for that. The question is what were you doing to address structural inequality and institutional racism throughout your life?" Booker said Thursday. "What were you doing 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago to fight for racial justice? To combat systemic racial inequality and structural inequality."

Lifetime Award

Biden peppered his Urban League speech with mentions of longtime members of the group and of the lifetime achievement award he was given in 2016, offering small cues that he is aligned with their aims.

Booker is seeking to break through on the debate stage. Harris’s attack on Biden’s record on mandatory busing to desegregate schools gave a jolt of energy to her campaign at the first debate. Biden was caught off guard by Harris’s approach and did little to fight back.

Since then, Biden has been working toward a more aggressive tack. "I’m not going to be as polite this time," Biden said of next week’s debate at a Wednesday fundraiser in Detroit.

"If they want to argue about the past, I can do that," he added, referring to Harris and Booker, who will share the debate stage. "I’ve got a past I’m proud of. They got a past that’s not quite so good."

But Biden also made an appeal at the fundraiser for Democratic unity. "I don’t want us to form what we have here, a circular firing squad. Let’s talk about the future," he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Wendy Benjaminson, Steve Geimann

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.