Murphy goes to bat for Booker, sans endorsement

Connecticut’s Sen. Chris Murphy stopped short of endorsing a candidate for president, but he did try Monday to raise some funds for Cory Booker’s reportedly flagging campaign.

“I have so many friends running for President,” Murphy said in a Monday tweet.

“I haven’t endorsed yet and I’m not going to now. But my friend @CoryBooker deserves to stay in this race. I hope you’ll watch this video and consider helping him with a donation.”

Booker, himself a U.S. senator, won’t be able to continue his race for the presidency without an influx of cash, his campaign manager, Addisu Demissie, said in a memo.

“We have reached a critical moment, and time is running out,” Demissie wrote, as Politico reported. “It’s now or never: The next 10 days will determine whether Cory Booker can stay in this race and compete to win the nomination.”

Demissie said the campaign needs to raise $1.7 million by the Sept. 30 filing deadline.

“This isn’t an endofquarter stunt or another one of those memos from a campaign trying to spin the press,” Demissie said. “This is a real, unvarnished look under the hood of our operation at a level of transparency unprecedented in modern presidential campaigns.”

Calling out Booker’s “humanity,” Murphy was clear in a tweeted video that he’s not making an endorsement — and may not — but said “Cory brings something special to this race.”

“He’s put all his chips in the center of the table, Murphy said. “Our party is better off and our country is better off if Cory is on the ballot in in Iowa in the beginning of 2020.”