Hollywood Power Players Hosting April Fundraiser For Newark Mayor’s Undeclared Senate Race

COMMENTS (12)

• WTF?

  Who is this guy’s publicist? Why the fuck do I care about the mayor of Newark? What has he done to turn his city around that warrants all the national attention he receives?

  I could see if he were Bloomberg. But Cory Booker? Goodness gracious.

  Comment by Anthony — Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 7:36pm PDT  Reply to this post

• If Booker doesn’t rescue at least three cats and put out two fires while in LA his trip will be a failure. Also expect five hundred tweets from him.

  Comment by thekid — Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 7:38pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Any wonder why movies are so bad? Because the people who make them/decide what to make are preoccupied with less important matters.

  Comment by Val — Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 7:51pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I always get concerned when I see candidates receive support from both sides of the aisle – such as Republican Bruce Willis and Democrat J.J. Abrams. But it pretty much reveals the true nature of the game known as politics, whether you have a D or an R next to your name, you are simply working for those who contribute millions to your campaign, not every day working folk.

  I am no conservative (actually I’m very, very far to the left) , but whenever you criticize a Democrat, many so-called “liberals” start bashing you (i.e. I wrote something about Chris Hayes and was immediately criticized by many people). THIS IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. Many of those on the left and right in this country act like this is a team sport – I root for Blue team and you root for Red team. THIS IS WRONG.

  WE SHOULD PUT IDEAS AND IDEALS AHEAD OF PARTIES.

  So to conclude, Booker’s brown nosing for cash in LA is clearly an example of political opportunism and exemplary of what is exactly wrong with this country. The Mayor of Newark should be working for his residents, not hob-nobbing with the wealthy and well-connected.

  Comment by Truth — Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 9:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Most people hate the fact that there is so much money in politics, but let’s not bash Cory for this when every other politician does the same thing. It’s the nature of politics today. What we should be critical of is who they’re getting money from.

    Many Republicans are raising money from oil execs and Wall Street bankers that want less regulations of their industries, while Democrats are raising money from Hollywood liberals that want things like gay marriage and climate change legislation (although to be fair Dems raise a small amount from Wall Street execs too). Which of those groups would you rather have in office??

    Comment by G — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 12:30am PDT  Reply to this post

    • I condemn ALL POLITICIANS who raise money from special interests. As I said, “so-called” liberals do themselves no favor by supporting a party that received MORE DONATIONS FROM WALL STREET IN 2008 THAN REPUBLICANS. Look it up, Obama received more Wall Street support than McCain did. Then his supporters wonder why he advocated a big bank bail-out and has appointed high level Wall Street lovers such as Geither and Lew to the Cabinet.

      WAKE-UP! THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS ABANDONED PROGRESSIVE GOALS AND HAVE ABADONED LABOR UNIONS – TIME FOR AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION!

      Comment by Truth — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 7:59am PDT  Reply to this post

• So I guess ‘telegenic’ is what matters. And having that D after your name. Because other than Willis who is from NJ but does not live here anymore, one ride around through Newark will tell you what a lousy job Booker has done as mayor. Newark joins Camden and Atlantic City as the three Democrat strongholds that are among the worst and worst run cities in the US. How about Katzenberg, Spielberg, Abrams spend their summers in Newark instead of Long Island or Beverly Hills?

  Comment by Elinor — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 3:31am PDT  Reply to this post

• Corey going to be president some day. Good luck to him.

  Comment by Annonimous — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 6:02am PDT  Reply to this post

  • No, he really isn’t.

    Comment by jos — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 10:07am PDT  Reply to this post

• Why does this keep happening? Newark is one of the worst cities in America. Yet its Mayor can get repeated support from power players in Hollywood for his political future. Black on black crime, underaged single moms, high property taxes, low performing schools, etc. This man has not done enough in two terms to warrant this type of support. Now, if Mayor Booker made a huge dent in crime where 80% of its residents feel safe to go anywhere, support him! When job creation or high school graduation rates improved, benefit ing young black males , then support him! In the meantime I have to question the intelligence of every invitee on the guest list.

  Comment by HMan — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 6:09am PDT  Reply to this post

• Newark has it rough. its proximity to Manhattan but low cost housing and lack of job opportunities means a much higher crime rate. Most major cities have a sister city like this.

  However, Booker has done quite a bit to try to improve Newark. He’s brought in technological advancement to crime detection in the city. He’s also done a lot to clean up a corrupt police force that was basically an enforcer for former mayor Sharpe James. He also cleaned up the corrupt way the city awarded contracts to vendors. Crime rates have dropped a lot and the Newark government is a lot more transparent now.

  He has also improved the city’s infrastructure, did attract new businesses and jobs, and started a lot of youth programs aimed at getting kids out of gangs and violent sitations.

  However, he’s not perfect. He is a media hound. He has had failed initiatives such as the SNAP debacle where he tried to live off a food budget of $30 a day. And he was reelection with a 59% majority, not really a landslide.

  Comment by Will — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 7:26am PDT  Reply to this post

• You are kidding me. He did nothing to ‘clean up’ the police force, he just cut back on it because there was such a drain in ratables in Newark that they couldnt afford enough cops and still can’t. It has been on the list of the top 10 worst cities for business and business start-ups for the past several years along with Jersey City. He has done NOTHING to bring in jobs. For some reason Mark Zuckerberg donated a ton of money to the schools – I am sure that will be spun as Booker ‘bringing in’ money. But it will take a lot to shore up those schools.
  Newark used to be a solid blue collar area with a ‘nicer’ section, with very good schools, a stable middle class, colleges (a campus of Rutgers and St. Peters) and was the same train ride away from Manhattan as Princeton or many towns in Monmouth County. Now it is a dump with a major airport and sports arena. Yeah I know some whacky outfit crunched the numbers and came up with a ‘peace index’ that rated Newark and Camden as among the most peaceful cities in the country. Dig up the article and read the comments from people who actually live there.

  Comment by Carrie — Friday March 15, 2013 @ 11:12am PDT  Reply to this post