As of right now, Cory Booker is my favorite democratic candidate. I should also mention, I will support and vote for whoever gets nominated. I will admit the reason the New Jersey Senniter is my current favorite is because he’s vegan. Not just because I’m vegan too and I stand by my own, but because being vegan means so many things. A vegan is a voice for the voiceless (the animals), they put the needs of others before their own (compassion for animals before “tasty food”), they’re a strong advocate for peace (living a peaceful existence by not financially supporting the abuse and torture of defenseless animals), they support healthy living, and are a huge proponent of the environment. All the things that I feel most strongly about. And he’s not just talking about these things, he’s living them. He’s been vegetarian since 1992 and vegan since 2014. My dream canidadate!

He’s an ivy league man. I like that. I feel it’s important. I like the idea that our leader be a product of our nations most prestigious institutions. It just makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, give me a great candidate, willing to listen to the experts and always trying to do the right thing and prestige goes right out the window. That being said, I miss having a president who can spell and form complete sentences. Seneter Booker got his undergrad from Stanford University, which particularly pleases me since I’m a bay area resident. I love that he has ties to this awesome state and particularly this area. He also played football for Stanford. I. Love.. Football. He then went across the pond to Oxford for a masters before attending Yale Law School. That’s another thing. The president should have a basic understanding of the law and Yale law school seems like a good place to find that understanding.

I do have some concerns. I grew up Catholic, but no longer practice. It’s kind of hard being a scientist and not be offended by almost everything preached by Catholicism. Cory Booker seems to be a bit of a holy man., posting several twitter pictures of himself “worshiping”. I try to be open minded about religion, but the word worship is pretty intense. I personally find it very difficult to understand science and still follow religion and I’m skeptical of others who do. Skeptical may be too harsh a word, they just puzzle me I guess. You can’t wholeheartedly believe in both, so which is? Which do you favor, science or religion? In an extremely general sense, it doesn’t matter, but in today’s day and age, and for a person in power, it matters a lot. Some people use religion as a shield. They use it to deny climate change, to discriminate against people, to spread hate, or even start wars. It’s a dangerous concept. I don’t believe Cory Booker (nor does his voting record indicate) he would do any of those things. It just makes me feel uneasy is all.

He’s single. I couldn’t care less how someone lives their lives, but as a married women I see the importance in having a partner in life. Especially in a high stress situations (such as the presidency), you need someone to share the burden. To keep sane. The up side of being single is he would have more time to focus on his job.

He has no children. Also can be a huge up side. More time for work. But there’s something to be said for doing the right thing for your children. I think it was Kristen Gillibrand that said, having children gives her more to fight for. It’s true, especially in the case of climate change. Many old assholes in Washington probably fully understand the consequences of climate change, but don’t care because they’re making a ton of money denying it and won’t be around for the more serious effects. I think they mostly all have children, but I guess maybe they’re not so fond of them?? Or they believe all the money they’re making from fossil fuel companies will shield their children from the harsher realities. They say the poorer communities will get hit the hardest. I really don’t know. I think they all just might be greedy assholes.

My last concern (for now) is this new bill he’s introducing, the American Opportunity Accounts Act. It’s a plan to try to close the wealth inequality gap. It basically makes a saving account for every child born in the US and the amount grows based on your household income. The money becomes available when the child turns 18.. Lower income families accrue the most, whereas the highest level of income accrue nothing. The lowest levels receiving over $40,000 and the highest is just over $1,000. It’s a noble plan and I applaud his efforts, but I take issue. While I agree we need to close the gap, it punishes hard working parents, like mine. My parents came to this country with nothing. They worked incredibly strenuous jobs, with insane hours to put me through college. My dad worked the night shift at a cement plant, having to always bring a change of clothes because he would sweat through the first, while my Mom cleaned houses and businesses. Their income would have placed them in the second to last bracket, building a very small percentage of the amount lower income families would attain if they had no jobs at all. Bills like this punish the hard working middle class. Why should people have to work so hard for something others get for free? It’s not right. I completely agree we need to help the less fortunate, especially children, but not like this.

In summation, the good far outweigh the “bad”. Nothing about Cory is actually “bad” (that I know of), just maybe he could use some tweaks. I’m extremely excited for his run and can’t wait to see what comes next.

https://prosperitynow.org/blog/cory-bookers-american-opportunity-accounts-act-bold-step-towards-wealth-equity

https://vegnews.com/2019/2/cory-booker-on-animal-rights-veganism-and-how-to-change-the-world