The Newark mayor says the popular governor is "vulnerable."
There's no question that Newark, New Jersey's Mayor Cory Booker has set his sights on higher office. On CBS News's Face the Nation on Sunday, Booker said he will announce his decision in the next two weeks once he determines where he "can make the best difference for the city I love, for the state I love and the nation I pledge my life to.”
But on the Monday morning edition of CNN's Starting Point With Soledad O'Brien, Booker took aim at potential rival Gov. Chris Christie, suggesting that he doesn't share constituents' needs on various issues.
“Christie is vulnerable, as he should be,” Booker said, “because there’s a lot of issues in the state he’s not falling in line with, from women’s issues, from environmental issues, from really going in a balanced way.”
The ambitious mayor, who also is considering a challenge to U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, downplayed how difficult it might be to beat Christie, who, according to recent polls, has a double-digit lead over Booker in a hypothetical match up. In addition, 67 percent of voters in the state say Christie deserves to be re-elected.
"The polling showed George Bush ahead and sailing towards re-election," he said of the Republican whom Bill Clinton made a one-term president. "If you look at head-to-head matches right now, it doesn't put [Christie] that far over 50 percent."
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(Photos from left: Joe Raedle/Getty Images, AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
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