Sen. Cory Booker did what I expected him to do, which is to wait until it was too late to matter to make a decision on whether or not to endorse the nuclear deal with Iran, and then to endorse it. This makes the most political sense for him, which I’ll explain, but also shows that he’s covering his ass rather than showing leadership.
The path Sen. Booker chose is what I would have recommended to him as the wise one if he wanted to cause the least controversy and the fewest political risks. While there are some people who are genuinely pissed off that it took him so long to endorse the deal, the fact is that he did eventually endorse it and the deal will be implemented. There won’t be much traction in attacking him for delay when he picked the correct and winning side.
As for the sizable conservative Jewish community in New Jersey, they appreciate that he listened to their concerns and that he waited to see how it would shake out rather than giving any comfort to the supporters of the deal, including the president. They know he isn’t to blame for the deal going through and they know that his vote on this didn’t materially change a thing. So, while some of them might be bitterly disappointed, most of them will remember that Booker didn’t fight on the other side.
In my opinion, Booker was always going to support the deal but he had to contend with the fact that the other New Jersey senator, Bob Menendez, was an outspoken critic of the deal. It didn’t help to have Chuck Schumer across the Hudson River opposing the deal, too. In taking this low key approach, Booker avoided showing up his closest geographical colleagues in the Senate. It should be noted, as well, that Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Chris Coons of Delaware also took their sweet time making a public declaration.
So, basically, the whole region kind of slow-footed the thing and for some reason Booker seemed to take the most heat for it.
Like I said, politically, this was the right play if your goal was risk aversion. But I don’t know that Booker really wants to get a reputation for playing it safe. This was a pretty high profile vote and political junkies are going to remind him of his lack of leadership for a long time.