Cory Booker Makes a Superb Cory Booker and a Terrible Mayor

Let the Booker Backlash begin. Newark Mayor Cory Booker has enjoyed an endless stream of slavishly positive publicity—in the national press, at least—since he first became mayor in 2006. There was the time he rushed into a burning building to save a neighbor. And the time he personally shoveled out constituents’ sidewalks after complaints about the city’s response to a snowstorm on Twitter. And now, in response to a Twitter challenge, he’s pledged to live on food stamps for a week to get a better sense of how the other half lives. The New York Times today takes a look at how he’s actually performing as mayor: And it’s not so great. More »