Fantastic story! I've seen him speak before and it's all there.

I've read a couple of profiles on him and he is an amazing character.

But making Obama look like Quayle? For real?

You should check your head Rebecca Traister- just how much you despise Obama is shining through in everything you write. Maybe you should recuse yourself from campaign coverage or just open up and admit it.

give a speech once. Let me tell you, Barack Obama is no Dan Quayle.

Check out "Street Fight" a documentary about Booker's unlikely attack on an entrenched political system. Great stuff. Seriously, you can watch it as a free streaming video if you have Netflix.

Is this available to view / listen to on Youtube or some such device? I'd never heard of Cory Booker, but he sounds like someone well worth learning about!

You may be amazed by the fluff and pap, but his constituents see it quite differently. You golden child isn't even a sure bet to win re-election in Newark because he still can't relate to the people he serves.

The difference between he and Barak Obama is that Barak is comfortable having people as smart as or smarter than him in his presence. Cory Booker has to be the smartest guy in the room. And put him in a room with equally smart Newarkers and he's even more uncomfortable and exposed.

The tragedy in this post is that I actually help elect him and in no small way.

and that's a serious problem. Like many urban black politicians, he views all problems with black achievement in schools (and the lack thereof in many cases) as SOLELY the problem of teacher unions. There are a huge number of problems with urban schools, and teacher unions are about #18 on a list of 20. #1, #2 and #3 involve poverty, single-parent households, and an entrenched culture of education hostility in urban settings.

Stop bashing unions, Corrie!!

The documentary Street Fight (which I haven't seen)about Booker's election and the campaign for mayor of Newark has already been mentioned.

The New Yorker ran a very interesting story on Booker a while back. It's worth a look, sorry the link is only an abstract I guess it isn't online yet, Feb 4 2008 issue if you have it lying around.

I think you're Salon's best writer and most human, but Cooker makes Obama seem like Dan Quayle...? C'mon, you're much better than that using kind of a reach. Please... Don't let the dumbing down of Salon envelop you, too.

I think you're Salon's best writer and most human, but Booker makes Obama seem like Dan Quayle...? C'mon, you're much better than using that kind of a reach. Please... Don't let the dumbing down of Salon envelop you, too.

I truly hope that we're not going to describe every up-and-coming black Democrat as "the next Barack Obama"? There is clearly a lot more substance to both of these men then that!

the New Yorker profile is probably on line in archives ...

I wish he was the nominee, but that would be selfish ... the folks in Newark need him more... Obama's absence from the Senate, not so much.

Just wanted to second the recommendation for the film Street Fight.

I found your comparison intellects after hearing a single speech to be unfortunate... then again Corey really is impressive so your momentary bout with “the vapors” can be overlooked. I was intrigued by a few of the comments expressing disappointment in Mr. Booker. I think the challenges he faces in Newark are soon to be the norm for the new generation of urban leaders. Mr. Booker’s predecessor could be described as a black version of the first Mayor Daley; with patronage and corruption robbing the city of its infrastructure. Realizing that when you try to protect everything, you end up protecting nothing, Mr. Booker is making the tough choices that others chose to avoid, even as their city was dying. I wish him and all those poised to join him all the best.

Since when has a presidential candidate ever delivered their specific plans during a convention? No, seriously. We are lucky if they discuss specific strategies during the debates and people are getting upset, or criticizing Obama, for not being specific enough in an acceptance speech? I assure you, McSame's acceptance speech will lack substance and style. I wonder if the same AP writer will mention it after the GOP convention? Probably not.

It was a moving speech that calls all Americans to hold him/herself accountable, communities accountable, and finally, the government accountable. In order for change to occur, a vision must be present and shared by enough people to get the job done. Though Obama is inexperienced, he has proven himself to be wise - I have no doubt he will surround himself with qualified, competent, honest politicians and advisers to help him turn his vision into an American reality.

Flowing Prose

Poetic nouns

Powerful verbs

Wondrous Sounds

What a speech, what a beautiful, powerful, explicit, wonderful and detailed speech. And the rapture on the faces. Yes, we have a charismatic leader. If alive today, Weber would relabel his phrase by simply saying as example, Barack Obama.

What can one say, the new age Manhattan project Deeply has been urging for twenty years was in this speech, the reaffirmation of the American Dream was in this speech.

Emma Lazurus's "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" restated... to the post speech gathering on stage of Biden and his wife, Obama and his handsome, beautiful, family. The melting pot-extraordinaire with brains. This man can only loose if fools and wealth-besotted with greed triumph.

Had Cory Booker opted to run for the Senate in 2004 rather than keeping his sights on being mayor of Newark, he might have gotten to the Senate 2 years before Obama. Who knows what might have happened, though he's probably too young to be considered for President just yet.

I remember seeing a recent picture of him and Obama clasping hands in the midst of a crowd, with a young boy (about 8, black) standing nearby, staring up at them. What an inspiration for that boy - seeing those 2 men, both of the same color as he, both on such notable journeys of achievement. That boy surely must feel that anything is possible for him as well, if he works for it. I find that a mark of how far American has come.