Sen. Cory Booker has been to several states campaigning for and with Hillary Clinton. NJTV News Correspondent Michael Hill asked him about the talk of him as her running mate and what went wrong for her in New Hampshire.
Hill: I want to talk about presidential politics. What are your thoughts on Sen. Clinton’s performance in New Hampshire and the latest polling?
Booker: She won in Iowa, she went to New Hampshire which is Bernie Sanders’ backyard. I think everybody knew he would do well and he did as the polls said that he would. I think in many ways those first two primaries, while they get a lot of our attention, one that she won and one that he won, there’s such a small amount of delegates. We really are now starting to get into a lot more meaty states, a lot more delegates at stake and I tell you I think it’s playing more into Clinton’s strength as we go forward.
Hill: Gov. Christie is said to be, at least there are reports that he’s going to, suspend his campaign. Your thoughts on that as someone who represents the state of New Jersey and listened to some of the complaints Democrats have made here and voters have made here because the governor has been so absent.
Booker: At the end of the day he jumped into the arena and as it says it’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or could have done better. Right now I’m the United States senator from New Jersey, one of the two. He’s the governor. He’s somebody I have to work with close, it’s important that I maintain a strong relationship with him. So, now that it looks like his presidential ambitions are winding down, he’ll have to make his own announcement, but when it comes to real issues like the storm we just had which affected Cape May County, or the urgency to build a new tunnel for rail lines into New York and deal with these horrible NJ Transit delays. These are the kind of collaborations that are critical that he and my office have been working on consistently through his presidential ambitions. I hope to really make some progress in the coming months on doing the work for New Jerseyans. I don’t have time to partisanship when it comes to my state, frankly. You have a lot of work to do, a lot of people whose livelihoods are dependent upon government responsiveness, reliability, efficiency and effectiveness.
Hill: Final question on the politics, your role going forward with the Hillary Clinton campaign. Suppose she decides that she wants Sen. Cory Booker as her running mate. What do you say?
Booker: Well, that’s a hypothetical that seems distant at best. She’s in a tough primary right now and so I’m responding to her requests. I’ve been to pretty much every primary state in the early states, some of them more than once. I’ll be heading out to help her out in Las Vegas and Nevada this weekend, so I’m just going to work really hard for the party because I know what’s at stake in this presidential election. A lot of issues that New Jersey has moved forward on from the things like paid family leave, apprenticeship programs, making college more affordable, all of these things that New Jersey wants are at stake in this presidential election so I believe Hillary is the best person to get things done and deliver on some of the things that middle class families and poor families and others are struggling with in New Jersey. We’ve got to get this economy more robust, we’ve got to give people more of the tools they need to succeed and increasingly technological 21st century economy. As I look at what’s best for our state, I think it’s a Hillary Clinton presidency and I’m going to work very hard to deliver on that in the coming weeks and months.
Hill: Senator, it sounds like you’re interested in being her potential VP candidate with her?
Booker: Look, I learned even from my days as a city councilman in Newark, focus on doing the best you can where you are. Be more about a purpose than a position. The world and the universe and God will take care of the positions, you just fulfill your purpose where you are. I was elected by the entire state of New Jersey — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — to do a job and from apprenticeship programs to more money for our community colleges, to helping our seniors and protecting Social Security, these are the things I’m down here working on every single day and I’m going to deliver for New Jersey. It’s flattering to hear talk about presidency, vice presidency, all that stuff but it’s taking my eyes off the prize. The prize is today, this week, delivering for New Jersey. Next week finding something, whether it’s people who’ve been suffering from storm damage to folks who are trying to commute to work, I want to be the senator every single day that’s bringing home the bacon, bringing home results for New Jerseyans. I’m proud of that record so far.