Sorry, Democrats — Cory Booker’s theatrics won’t solve your problems
Corey Booker stood upright for 25 hours, and Democrats are celebrating. The left would have you believe that because the New Jersey senator staged the longest filibuster in history, the dejected Democratic Party is reenergized.
Don’t believe it.
It is a sign of the sorry state of the Democratic Party that they rely on such performance art to get attention. They used lollipop signs during the president’s address to Congress, they dance in the streets, they key Teslasand now they stage a talk-a-thon that sidetracked the serious work of the Senate.
Did Booker’s antics make Americans wealthier? Did he help reduce the budget deficit or bring down crime? No, nor did Booker deliver any reason why voters should elect Democrats. Since the party’s approval rating has crashed to a record low 36 percent, it seems like a miss.
In fairness, Booker did get a lot of attention. As the Times reported, “The social-media-savvy senator streamed the speech live on his TikTok account, where it garnered more than 350 million ‘likes.’” Booker might have a future as an influencer, but to be considered the leader of a political party, surely you need more than an ability to go without water for a few hours.
It is not the first time Booker has resorted to showmanship. During Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court, Booker threatened to defy Senate rules and reveal confidential documents about the candidate. He declared, “This is the closest I’ll ever get in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.’”
Spartacus notwithstanding, Kavanaugh was confirmed and joined the court.
The legacy media gave rave reviews to Booker’s theater of the absurd. NBC’s headline: “Cory Booker’s record-breaking speech ignites a Democratic base ‘desperate’ for a fighter. The Guardian: “Booker makes a stand against Trump — and doesn’t stop for 25 hours.” Even veteran pollster Frank Luntz was smitten, absurdly predicting that Booker’s speech “may have changed the course of political history” and made Booker “one of the leaders for the Democratic Party for 2028.”
If that’s all it takes, expect to see more legislative days lost to showboating.
Most filibusters are staged in protest of legislation; the longest such speech previously was given by another Democratic senator — Strom Thurmond (D-S.C.) — against the Civil Rights Bill of 1957. But Booker was not speaking against any bill. He was simply attacking the Trump White House.
Booker repeated the persistent claim from the left that the Trump White House and Department of Government Efficiency intend to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. Elon Musk and Trump have repeatedly said this is not true, and there is zero evidence for the charge. That hasn’t stopped Democrats and the liberal media from issuing this dishonest rallying cry.
Booker sounded close to tears as he described how constituents are calling his office, telling him they cannot sleep at night, panicked that they may lose their benefits. Who is creating these fears? Not Trump or Musk — they have gone out of their way to dispel such concerns, saying they are only interested in eliminating waste and fraud in these programs to make the safety net stronger for beneficiaries.
Given that last year the Government Accountability Office “estimated that the federal government could lose between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud” and that there are millions of Social Security numbers assigned to people who are dead or otherwise not entitled to benefits, it seems reasonable to try to eliminate “improper payments.” Would Democrats disagree?
Indeed, it is Booker and other Democrats who are despicably fear-mongering about Social Security and Medicare. This appears to be their unifying “message” — intentionally creating anxiety among America’s seniors.
Democrats are on the wrong side of so many issues that spreading falsehoods about the Trump agenda may be their only bet.
While Democrats are fiercely opposed, nearly two-thirds of the country approves of the work of DOGE, according to Rasmussen, and rightly so. Musk and his highly skilled team are attempting to modernize our $7 trillion federal government, something that is long overdue and could deliver huge benefits.
DOGE is not the only issue where Democrats are at odds with the rest of America. In Wisconsin, voters in recent days supported an amendment to their state constitution to require voter IDs, something that more than 80 percent of the country agrees with but that Democrats deplore. The left is also up in arms about Trump deporting gang members, many of whom are violent criminals; Pew research finds that over 90 percent believe the president is doing the right thing.
The vast majority of the country favors school choice; Democrats do not. Democrats favor biological men competing in women’s sports; 79 percent of Americans do not.
If Booker and his Democratic colleagues want to get back in the game, standing for 25 hours straight, while impressive, is not the answer. Dropping the extreme progressive agenda that offends most of the country is a better path.
Unfortunately for Democrats, their loudest voices (and biggest funders) are on the far left. Until candidates emerge who talk sense to voters and can applaud the reforming our government and putting America first, they will remain in the wilderness.
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5230860-corey-booker-filibuster
Published in The Hill
