U.S. Sen. Cory Booker addressed a liberal think tank founded by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign chairman.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Cory Booker told a gathering of liberals to make sure they're involved in this fall's election.
"This is really a time, for us people of progressive values, to double down in our commitment," Booker said. "This is a time that should excite our moral imagination and get us out on the field."
Booker, who spoke without notes, was the featured speaker at the annual "progressive party" sponsored by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank founded by John Podesta, chairman of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination and a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.
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"The challenge is not the vitriolic words and appalling actions of the bad people," Booker said. "It's an appalling silence and inaction of the good people."
To applause, he singled out Hillary Clinton, who he has endorsed for president, and urged the attendees to make sure they vote.
In 2008, he said, the lines at his Newark polling place stretched around the block as Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first black U.S. president. A year later, Democrats stayed home and Republican Gov. Chris Christie won the first of his two terms, he said.
"I see what happens when we don't fight," he said. "Theres no line. I walk right in. I hugged the poll worker because she looked lonely."
He criticized presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, albeit not by name, as he bemoaned "all this hatred and bile and caustic words that are demeaning other Americans."
"To build they want to make us believe that we have to tear down," Booker said. "That's not who we are as a country. I say, 'Bring it.'"
Shortly after winning a full term in the Senate, Booker joined U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in November 2014 at a CAP-sponsored conference. Both he and Warren have been mentioned as potential running mates for Clinton should she defeat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and become the Democratic standard-bearer.
Sponsors included Clinton's pollster, Joel Benenson; labor unions such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the American Federation of Teachers; financial firms Citigroup and Bank of America; companies with business before the federal government such as defense contractor BAE Systems Inc., Comcast and Microsoft; and the biggest U.S. lobby firm by revenue, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, whose clients include AT&T, Caesars Entertainment, and the investment firm KKR & Co.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook