In Las Vegas, Booker urges voters to take responsibility for the American dream

By Kelcie Grega

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 | 6:42 p.m.

Sen. Cory Booker told a crowd of Henderson voters today that Democrats need to avoid the mistake of defining themselves by what they’re against, and to instead talk more about what they’re for.

“If you look around this country, we have a lot of common pain, but what we’ve lost is our sense of common purpose,” he said.

Booker made his third trip to Nevada since announcing his presidential bid in February. The New Jersey Democrat spent the day in Las Vegas, speaking at an event hosted by the Sun City Anthem Democratic Club, to students at Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas and at a private residence in Spring Valley.

During his Henderson speech, he challenged voters to take responsibility for the American dream.

“To dream a nation that everyone has health insurance, that our public schools are cathedrals of learning, that every job has dignity. It’s time for us to dream again. Old dreams and daring dreams and defiant dreams,” he said.

He also urged voters to not fall into the trap of only voting for someone who will beat President Donald Trump in 2020, because Democrats should have “bigger ambitions.”

One woman told Booker she was scared for her 11-year-old grandson to enter middle school amid recent school shootings.

“I’m absolutely terrified that he will not be safe,” she said. “What is your plan? We seem to be closing the gate after the horse is gone.”

Booker referenced his 14-point gun plan, which calls for requiring licenses for firearm owners.

“We used to be a nation that when children died, we do something,” he said. “You all remember when four little girls were killed in a bombing in Birmingham? We didn’t just sit back, we changed laws. We brought down segregation. We used to be a country where when we saw tragic, unjust death, we responded.”

When asked how he plans to reconcile with the challenges along the border on immigration reform, he said the nation needs more “courageous empathy.”

“If someone comes from another country, we need to still see their humanity and we still need to see their dignity,” he said. “When you deny people dignity, awful things happen.”

Booker criticized Trump over his administration’s handling of asylum seekers along the Southern border.

“Think about what we are doing when we strip away the humanity from people,” he said. We stick them in cages, we separate them from their families.”

While important to invest in border, Booker noted that it’s also essential to provide humanitarian aid. Booker also criticized Trump on foreign policy, particularly on tariffs imposed on U.S. allies like Canada and Mexico.

“Instead of teaming up with our allies, we are putting tariffs on Canada as well,” he said.

At the end of his speech, Booker met with members of the crowd and took photos with them. Josephine Washington Johnson said she attended Booker’s meet and greet because she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I believe he will give us what we want,” she said. “He’s talking to the people,not at them.”