The word “serve” is usually a vast overstatement when people state that a politician is “serving” in a political office. But luckily there are a few shining stars out there who really do believe in serving their constituencies. One of the most famous examples we have today is Cory Booker.
Booker has been the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, since 2006, and has gained immense popularity over his two terms in office. He was born in Washington, D.C., and studied political science at Stanford University. He won the highly competitive Rhodes Scholarship, and then went on to study law at Yale. After graduating, he ran for city council in 1998, and defeated his opponent in an upset victory. He ran for mayor in 2002 but lost. He ran again in 2006 and won, but not before founding Newark Now, a grassroots non-profit aimed at empowering citizens to transform their communities.
During his first term as mayor he made huge strides for the city. He reduced the city’s budget deficit by millions of dollars, doubled the amount of affordable housing under development, drastically reduced crime rates and raised salaries for most city workers while reducing salaries for those making over $100,000, including himself. He held office hours for citizens to come in and talk with him personally. In 2010 he came in seventh for the World Mayor Award.
After winning a second term in 2010, Cory Booker’s fame really started to take off as stories of his personal commitment to his job became national news. Booker stays connected to his constituency with his Twitter account, which now has over 1.3 million followers. He personally went to an elderly man’s house to shovel his driveway. He saved a woman from a burning building, invited those without power after Hurricane Sandy to stay in his home, challenged himself to live off food stamps for a week, and even saved a dog from the cold. Honestly, if his life were a movie, no one would see it because it sounds so ridiculous.
But all of it is real, from Newark’s first murder-free month in decades to the city’s population growth to saving random dogs from the weather. Obviously he is still a politician, and he is well aware of how all his do-gooder actions affect his political capital. But he backs up his ridiculous random acts of kindness with true, statistical evidence that his policies and his leadership are working. In a slow economy, Newark is growing, and you cannot deny that this is largely due to Cory Booker’s devotion to public service and his knowledge of how to get things done right.
The way he interacts with the public is just so surprising and refreshing that you cannot help but feel that this politician is different. He is constantly interacting with people on Twitter, responding to all different kinds of tweets with kindness and wit. He constantly pokes fun at himself, making cheesy but endearing jokes you could picture a dad making around his kid’s friends.
We need more politicians like Cory Booker who are not afraid of interacting directly with their constituencies. He represents what true public service is all about. Politicians, take note: if you care about other people, have solid ideas and are devoted enough to see plans to the finish, your job will not be in danger.
Booker is now exploring a run for U.S. Senate. It remains to be seen how this transition to the national stage will affect his hands-on approach, but like most of the residents of Newark, I am excited to see what he does next.
—Lindsay Lee is a junior in mathematics. She can be reached at [email protected].
