Cory Booker, the vivacious ex-Newark, N.J., mayor who drew national headlines for his boots-to-the-ground style of governing, has been relatively quiet in his first month as a senator, Politico reports.
Booker, who once saved a woman from a burning building, has shied away from news conferences, TV appearances or saying anything that could garner too much press, Politico reports.
"I think one of his biggest handicaps—both at home and potentially in the Senate—is that he’s a bit of a showboat," a New Jersey Democrat told Politico, who, like others whom Politico interviewed, asked not to be named for fear of angering the senator. "The new kid on the block has to be careful not to step on too many toes. He’s clearly making a very smart and calculated decision, which is what he should do."
The former mayor is following the celebrity-turned-senator-playbook that worked well for Hillary Clinton, Al Franken and Elizabeth Warren. Keeping a low profile, many believe, is his best play as he learns the ropes of becoming senator and preps for his re-election bid in 2014.
But Booker hasn't lost his online persona. When a reporter tweeted that Booker ignored a question, he responded in his New Jersey mayor style, letting his 1.4 million Twitter followers know: "Ouch. Don’t hate, it ain’t great & I was running late."
A Booker aide tells Politico that the Senate’s most junior member is just trying to fit in with his colleagues, the majority of whom are significantly less visible than the 44-year-old.
"He’ll be extremely selective about who he wants to talk with," the aide told Politico. "He wants to come in and strike the right notes. What goes into creating success [in the Senate] is a very, very different sort of equation than what happened in Newark."
Read more at Politico.