Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D — N.J.) delivered a speech to a packed crowd at the Bagel Mill on Monday morning.
“Can’t we have bigger aspirations than beating Donald Trump?” he asked the audience, underscoring his platform of uniting Americans. “We will not win an election by talking about what we’re against, but what we’re for.”
He issued a warning to the crowd of more than 90 listening: that if he gets elected, “I will ask more from you than any president has in your lifetime.”
Booker said apathy and bystanders lost the 2016 election for the democrats.
“Democracy is a verb, it demands action,” Booker said.
In a phone interview later in the day, Booker explained his position on broadband internet, affordable housing, and regenerative agriculture.
“Broadband is, now, not optional. It’s essential for children growing up as well as families.”
He spoke for a need for “massive infrastructure investment” through what he referred to as a rural Marshall Plan.
Booker referred to affordable housing issues as “one of the biggest pinpoints in the country not talked about during this election.”
His housing plan “is not just about urban housing, it’s for the whole country,” he said.
He also referenced specific initiatives to promote housing affordability, including renter’s credit, using tax credit programs to encourage affordable housing, addressing certain exclusionary zoning measures, and helping families deal with eviction through improved access to attorneys.
Booker also said he seeks to be the president who promotes regenerative agriculture nationwide, helping farmers participate in climate resilience efforts by fully funding existing programs, including incentives for organic and no-till farming, to “really transform farming in America.”
In the most recent Morning Consult national poll, Booker commanded two percent of the vote in the Democratic candidate field, behind eight other democratic candidates.