Ohio was on the lookout for a Spartacus sighting Friday night, possibly continuing into today.
Not anything approaching the real one, of course, but the one who claimed that title for himself last month in the U.S. Senate – Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).
Booker came to the Buckeye State to campaign for the reelection of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray. He may also plant seeds for a future presidential bid.
He spoke Friday at the Ratner home, 17300 Parkland Drive, Shaker Heights, from 6 to 8 p.m. The required “Contribution Levels” range from $500 to $5,400 per person.
Brown and Cordray have now hosted two of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate — both possible 2020 presidential candidates — to fundraise for them in the last week. Previously Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) made an appearance in Ohio.
Booker and Harris were also two of the sharpest critics of Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his recent confirmation hearings.
Booker earlier this week called on liberal activists to “get up in the face” of Republican members of Congress, rhetoric that his critics saw as inciting more aggression in a political party that has seen more than its share of aggression lately.
His attacks on Kavanaugh were seen as hypocritical. Not only was there no evidence produced by Kavanaugh’s accusers, but Booker himself has admitted to groping a friend when he was in high school.
Brown and Cordray are eager to embrace the far-left senator from New Jersey so they can fill their campaign war chests and share their big-government visions for Ohio, said Mandi Merritt, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.
Here’s a recap of some of Booker’s recent actions that Merritt said place him firmly in the far left of his increasingly leftist party:
- Booker called Republicans who supported Justice Kavanaugh “complicit in the evil;”
- He’s said that impeachment for Justice Kavanaugh shouldn’t be “off the table.“
- Booker is co-sponsoring Sanders’ $32 trillion government-run healthcare plan.”
- He’s attacked the “savagely wrong” state of America.”
- Booker supports an open-borders policy and is a proponent of sanctuary cities.”
- Much like his Democrat colleagues, he’s told his supporters to ‘Get Up in the Face of Congresspeople.”
- And he’s introduced a bill that guarantees a taxpayer-funded job for all.
These policies are wildly out of the mainstream for Ohio, a state that President Trump won by over eight points in 2016, yet Brown and Cordray align on many of these big-government policies. This is further proof that the Democratic Party continues to move away from working-class voters, and towards a West Coast agenda that is wrong for Ohio, said Merritt.
“Cory Booker’s not-so-subtle 2020 campaign is making its way to Ohio to boost his progressive allies Sherrod Brown and Richard Cordray,” she said. “Unfortunately for Booker, Brown and Cordray, Ohioans don’t support their big-government plans to implement government-run healthcare, loosen immigration policies and raise taxes across Ohio. These policies didn’t resonate with voters in 2016, and they won’t in November either.”
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Anthony Accardi is a writer and reporter for The Ohio Star.
