So, I understand Cory Booker is preparing to run for president in 2020 and he was showing some force by criticizing Jeff Sessions appointment for which he can use 4 years from now.
But then he voted against allowing Americans to import affordable drugs from Canada.
It turns out he has received over a million dollars from the pharma industry.
It seems he is now back peddling as people are criticizing his vote.
Did he blow it for 2020? Or will this be a wake up call for him?
I recall liking Booker after hearing him speak on various interviews, but now it feels like another establishment Democrat, taking money and voting accordingly. Really disappointed.
If he’s taking money from the drug industry to vote against cheaper drug options, that’s disappointing (although there may be an independent good reason for it, I’m not up on all the details)
However, I don’t see how that makes him an “establishment Democrat.” I don’t think the Democrats are known for selling out to big business.
This may be a little out of date but I wouldn’t say Democrats are exactly the paragons of virtue when it comes to big money interests.
That said, I like Cory Booker and I hope this isn’t a serious blemish on his otherwise promising future as viable democratic candidate.
Booker said it was a matter of the safety of foreign sourced drugs. In this case, the foreign country is Canada. However:
There’s a shitload of phony pharmacies online. If patients are allowed to direct order, that could be a problem.
How many people have been poisoned etc. by Canadian drugs?
I’ve said that the Dems ran the only person who could lose to Donald Trump.
So I dont have a good grip right now on the reactions of the populace to different “Business as usual Dem.”
And I certainly don’t know where we will be in 4 years.
Notice it allows ordering from other countries. And even if a pharmacy claims to be Canadian (or any other country), how do you confirm it?
It would be different if this concerned importing from Canadian manufacturers.
Sad thing is, 12 Republican senators, including Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and John McCain voted for this. It could have passed. I mean Ted Cruz voted for this! TED CRUZ! Wow.
Actually, I’m surprised more Republicans didn’t vote for it, free trade. Competition. Right?
Ted Cruz is Canadian. 
Let’s raise their rent!
And you imported him and he’s toxic. QED.
No virgin was ever elected Queen of the Whores. Money. That simple, money. Would we rather have the guy who will do the right thing more often, or the dignity and smug that comes with losing to a totally corrupt asshole?
There is some hope, let it be noted, shown most lately by Uncle Bernie Bedhair. A buttload of small donations from lots and lots of people can work. But we still have to face the avalanche of money that rains down on the other guys. Manna from Hell. And the only way we change that is to get enough of our hypocrites to outvote their hypocrites on campaign finance.
Anybody got a better plan? I’ll just wait over here. Don’t take too long, I’m kinda old.
I think Booker damaged a lot of his credibility with this vote.
Health care costs in the US are unsustainable, and international competition is one (of many) things that will bring our costs under control. if he voted against international competition to protect domestic companies that will not sit well with many people.
I tend to agree. However, as we’ve been discussing for the past 12 months or so, positions and votes don’t matter as much as image and [insert whatever the hell motivates people to go one way or another]. No single vote is going to sink him, especially one four years before the election. (it’s not like a vote to authorize war, for example). If he consistently earns a reputation as a corporate sell-out, then sure, he’ll be in trouble.
He doesn’t even have to actually *earn *that reputation, though. If a sufficiently charismatic opponent could sell the idea of Booker being a corporate sell-out and get it repeated often enough, then Booker will get that reputation even if he’s done little or nothing to deserve it.
And the American voters will get the leaders *they *deserve.
I don’t think I deserve Trump.
Yeah? Well, you guys elected that Trudeau fellow! And there’s some serious shit wrong with him! i just don’t happen to know offhand what it is!
I don’t think this vote will matter all that much in terms of the big picture. In general I think it’s more important to focus on the political talent of a candidate than their individual weaknesses . Almost everyone who ends up becoming President has serious weaknesses as a candidate and if they had lost you could easily make a reasoned case for why it was inevitable. With Obama the idea of an inexperienced black Senator from Chicago with Hussein as his middle name becoming a two-term president would have struck most savvy observers as ludicrous just a few years before it happened. The same with Bill Clinton and his obvious character problems. Both of them made up for their shortcomings with their outsized political talent.
Of all the Democratic hopefuls, Booker seems the closest to them in terms of political chops. So the question isn’t whether he has this or that weakness but whether he has the eloquence,charm and savvy to glide over them the way Obama, Clinton and for that matter Reagan did. I suspect that he has but we don’t have to take it in on faith. It appears likely that the field in 2020 will be wide open and Booker will certainly have his work cut out to win states like Iowa and NH. If he can do well there, I suspect he will have the stuff to go all the way.
Gonna depend on the circumstances we face. Right now, I’m guessing somewhere between seriously fucked up and smoking ruins. Trump, Jr. v. The Humongous? Could be a tough call.