Move over Elizabeth Warren.
Senate colleague and Democratic presidential nomination rival Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey says he’s the real “policy wonk.”
Warren, the populist senator from Massachusetts who’s produced one progressive policy proposal after another, has become known as the candidate with the plans. But Booker begs to differ.
“There’s no bigger policy wonk nerd in this race than me. Anybody who knows me in the Senate, that’s my forte,” Booker said Monday in an interview with the Monitor and NHTalkRadio.com.
“There’s been 170-180 plans put out by every candidate. We’re all putting out plans. I love mine. I think in so many cases my plans are better,” said Booker, who was interviewed aboard his campaign’s RV in New Hampshire. “Heck, we are the only people to put out a plan on child poverty. How can that be?”
He indirectly took aim at Warren, who surged over the summer and early autumn and is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden atop the polls in the 2020 Democratic primary race.
“I stand with Elizabeth Warren. I think Medicare-for-all is the best way to do it. But I also actually believe that it’s going to be a process to get there,” Booker noted. “We can’t be in a situation where we’re just taking away insurance from folks.”
Warren is a major supporter of the Medicare-for-all plan introduced in the Senate by another nomination rival – Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The government-run plan, if enacted, would eliminate private insurance.
Booker highlighting his pragmatic approach to politics.
“I will not be one of those folks on the stage that’s so rigid to say ‘it’s my way or the highway and I’m going to sacrifice progress for purity,’ ” he said.
Asked if some of his nomination rivals are too rigid, Booker answered, “that’s what voters are going to have to decide.”
Warren came under attack at last week’s fourth Democratic primary debate over her refusal to discuss whether taxes would go up for Americans to implement her proposal for a government-run Medicare-for-all plan. She announced on Sunday that she would soon reveal how she’d pay for her Medicare-for-all proposal.
Booker’s built up a formidable team in New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states to vote in the caucus and primary calendar, he’s a skilled retail campaigner and is arguably the best orator in the record setting field of Democratic presidential contenders. But he’s yet to pop in the polls or have a viral moment.
But with three and a half months still to go until the voting begins, that’s fine with Booker.
“The people that usually win are the people who peak in January, February, not people who are winning in the summer or winning in the fall. We’ve just got to continue doing the work,” he noted.
And to make his case, Booker pointed to one-time long shots Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter – who ended up winning the nomination and eventually the White House.
“The more people who hear my message, the more successful and momentum we’re getting and I’m hoping that continues to rise and by the time we’re in next year I hope we’ll do what Bill Clinton the comeback kid or Jimmy Carter – who won New Hampshire – I’ll follow in their footsteps,” he emphasized.