Watchdog groups support effort to stop Christie from holding October election for U.S. Senate

[freshwest]

5. You know the area. I want Booker to win and go farther (dial-up warning, video, large pic):

From Mother Jones:

...Meanwhile, another politician is mastering earned media (yes, same thing, but bear with us). Cory Booker, a Rhodes Scholar and Stanford football star, first gained notoriety when he moved into Newark's notorious Brick Towers after becoming a city council member. Then, in 2002, he tried to oust Sharpe James from his 16-year perch as mayor. Booker, derided as a carpetbagger and "not black enough" by James and his supporters, lost that race, but an Oscar-nominated documentary, Street Fight, brought him wider attention and guaranteed a rematch with the James machine. Still living in Brick Towers, he became mayor in 2006 and quickly lowered the homicide rate by an astonishing 36 percent, and doubled the number of affordable housing units, all while slashing the deficit and raising the salaries of many city workers.

This is remarkable stuff. But what propels Booker into the once-in-a-generation stratum of leaders is how he has enlisted his constituents to fight for a better city—and how he has used social media to do so.

Booker keeps up an awe-inspiring Twitter feed. He fields -and acts upon- complaints about broken streetlights and fire hydrants. He quotes philosophy and Scripture. He reminds Newarkians how to report landlords who don't turn on the heat. When Jersey Shore "star" Snooki tweeted "Ugh stuck in Nwk traffic is no fun," he replied, "Snooki! I'm the mayor where R U so I can give u a ticket 4 texting & driving we needs revenue!" He's also got the city—and followers from around the world—joining his weight-loss efforts via the #letsmove hashtag.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/cory-booker-twitter-sarah-palin

I was impressed with him at the DNC:

He sounds like what we need in the Senate. Open-minded, not afraid to do new things while keeping to principles. It's the big picture he's into and making everyone's lives better. A little bit more from him about his life and sense of humor:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/transcript-cory-booker-061912.html?view=print

I also liked this I found:

Don't speak to me about your religion by Corey Booker

Don't speak to me about your religion;
first show it to me in how you treat other people.

Don't tell me how much you love your God;
show me in how much you love all God's children.

Don't preach to me your passion for your faith;
teach me through your compassion for your neighbors.

In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as I am in how you choose to live and give.

~ Corey Booker

I feel like I've got a grasp on this man now, and I'm impressed at what I'm reading and hearing. I hope that New Jersey will feel the same way and give him a chance to be their Senator.