Despite recently polling at 0 percent, Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker said he sees a “viable path” to victory after narrowly meeting a $1.7 million fundraising goal just hours before the campaign’s self-imposed deadline.
Booker met the fundraising goal Sunday night and quickly touted the campaign’s newfound “viable path” to victory despite recent polling struggles. Booker has yet to meet the DNC’s polling requirement to qualify for the November debate—recent polling shows the New Jersey senator’s support as low as 0 percent. He cleared the $1.7 million threshold over the course of 10 days, but is now pushing to raise an additional $300,000 from supporters on Monday, as third quarter fundraising draws to a close. Booker pointed to the latest fundraising figures as evidence of his growing support on CNN’s New Day Monday morning.
“We blew past it last night. It’s been the best sort of period of fundraising we’ve had for the campaign,” he said. “We owe a lot of gratitude to the tens of thousands of people who came forward to empower us to be in a position to continue in this campaign and grow in this campaign.”
Booker’s fundraising surge came with a fall in the polls. A September 25 Quinnipiac poll found the New Jersey senator polling at 0 percent support, though the poll’s margin of error was +/- 4.9 points. His favorability rating is also low, with only 25 percent of respondents saying they have a “favorable opinion” compared to 36 percent rating him unfavorable in the poll. Booker dismissed the latest polls, which could threaten his position on the November debate stage, arguing that money is more essential to maintaining a presidential campaign. – READ MORE