Brett Kavanaugh’s inexorable confirmation will become the most significant change to the US Supreme Court in the 21st century – and depending on his impact to the coming decades, it may potentially be the most important in any of our lifetimes.
Yet, with the primary season looming, (now in the ‘invisible invisible’ primary stage as my politics teacher once put) the confirmation hearings for the D.C Appeals Court judge has provided Democrat presidential hopefuls with the opportunity to take advantage of the free airtime to demonstrate their aptitude to primary voters.
None other than Cory Booker, the constantly angry-looking and bulging-eyed junior senator from New Jersey. Tipped for some time as the young, charismatic and progressive darling to face Trump in 2020, his desire to make a statement is understandable. Yet, his grandstanding this week is further evidence that Booker is all show and a wannabe hero of the people.
The former Newark Mayor, justifiably grilled Kavanaugh on issues such as Trump’s expectations of loyalty, however, he left other senators stunned by threatening to risk expulsion from the Senate hearing by illegally releasing confidential emails regarding racial profiling sent by the judicial nominee in 2001 and 2002.
The embarrassing reality for Booker, however, was that the emails weren’t confidential and were known to be accessible to the public – and he reportedly knew that this was the case. To further hammer the nail in the coffin, the content of the emails included Kavanaugh expressing opposition to racial profiling post-9/11, rather than supporting it, which Booker implied with his theatrics.
The heroic Booker made sure to take full responsibility for his legal and unpunishable act, becoming a martyr to the cause. Quite humorously, with a sense of adolescent pride and self-adulation, he expressed that his actions amounted to ‘the closest thing to an I am Spartacus’ moment, which was mocked by Republicans politicians and commentators alike.
On this day in 71B.C. the Thracian gladiator Spartacus was put to death by Marcus Licinius Crassus for disclosing confidential scrolls. When informed days later that in fact the Roman Senate had already publicly released the scrolls, Crassus replied “Oh, ok, my bad”.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 7, 2018
In this Trumpian age, where Democrats believe they need a progressive hero to represent a range of voters feel unhappy with Trump’s policies and actions, Booker certainly likes to pose himself as one. Yet, when Booker’s past acts of support for various causes are examined further, it becomes difficult to pin down where he stands.
Booker, the largest Democrat recipient of pro-Israel money and a close friend to the Israel lobby, has flip-flopped on pro-Israel positions and sided with progressives on issues such as supporting the Iran deal and rejecting the move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
He was also a progressive hero when he testified against his own colleague Senator Jeff Sessions during his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, winning liberal hearts despite previously presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to participants of the 1965 march for voting rights in Selma with Sessions months earlier. Then a couple of days after, he angered progressives by supporting an amendment to a bill that lowers prescription costs, highlighting his tendency of being too close to businesses and Wall Street. Unsurprisingly, he has been criticised for taking a stand against ‘feel-good social issues,’ regardless of his past positions, but sticking with big money anywhere else – and you can only get a sense of deja-vu.
He may not be as artificial as Clinton was, but his malleability when it became necessary and his façade of a principled politician who stands up for what is right is disconcerting for the Democrats’ chances in 2020. It may prove expedient in attaining progressive support in the more ideological primaries, but if 2016 taught us anything, it is unlikely to convince and fool voters the Democrats vitally require in 2020. Booker’s grandstanding reputation easily has the potential to be exploited by Trump similarly to how he exploited ‘Lyin’ Ted’, ‘Weak Jeb’, and ‘Crooked Hillary’ – the Democrats need a mentally stronger candidate to tackle Trump’s childish rhetoric and name-calling.
Cory Booker may be a great orator and successful politician, but unless he discards the imaginary creation that is Cory Booker, he will struggle to win over the voters that Hillary lost.
The Scene 