NPR

Cory Booker Promises To Bring America Together. But How?

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR, the Democratic presidential candidate explains why he thinks consensus around generally progressive ideas and "courageous empathy" are viable goals in 2020.
Cory Booker poses for a portrait at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Cory Booker talks about politics in grand, even spiritual terms.

Speaking to NPR about his run for the presidency, the New Jersey Democrat used phrases like "coalitions of conscience," "sacred honor" and "courageous empathy."

But those hopeful ideas pose a major challenge for Booker: how to translate his aggressively optimistic view of American democracy into any sort of policy action, especially with such gaping differences between the two parties on a wide range of policy areas.

He's the first 2020 presidential candidate that NPR's spoke to in a series of conversations to explore their core campaign messages called Opening Arguments.

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