Newark mayor Cory Booker came under heavy, anonymous fire just hours after he filed paperwork to run in 2014 for New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat — a seat he publicly committed to taking... even though Lautenberg hasn't given it up yet. Politico's Maggie Haberman talked to a Lautenberg aide who made clear that the Democratic Senator — or at least his staff — will not go down without a fight: "It's shameful that [Booker] avoided challenging a Republican just so that he can take on a long-serving, loyal Democrat," the unnamed aide said. Then came the real whopper on Booker: "This guy is self-absorbed and disrespectful."
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Impolitic, sure, but not exactly surprising: yesterday's Farleigh Dickinson poll indicates that, among New Jersey voters, Booker leads Lautenberg 42% to 20% for the latter's Senate seat. And, earlier this week, Booker indicated on CNN's Starting Point that his and Lautenberg's staff don't get along very well:
"We've reached out to him a number of times," said Booker, whose second term as mayor ends in 2014. "In fact, I had a plane trip going down to meet with him, but unfortunately with a lot of the challenges going down in Washington, he had to cancel the meeting."
How is Booker responding on Twitter, where he often responds to criticism? Either he's a master of subliminal tweeting (submliminal retweeting?) or he's chosen to ignore the angry Lautenberg aide:
Peace to you sir RT @agnesphagnes: Cory is a total failure & a liar! He threw stats my way & I debunked him!He never replied!PHONY!
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 11, 2013