Booker rallies hometown fans in bid to boost appeal

NEWARK, N.J. — Drawing on themes from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” Sen. Cory Booker pitched his campaign for president in newly urgent terms Saturday, declaring, “We are here today to say we can’t wait” as he laid out his vision for addressing the economic and social ills of the country.

In what was billed as the major hometown rally kicking off his campaign, Booker, D-N.J., spoke at Military Park, a revitalized green oasis in a city that was once a symbol of urban despair but has credible claims of an economic and cultural resurgence. Booker combined his familiar themes of unity with specific policies to close the racial wealth gap, repair what he considers a broken criminal justice system and set the country on a path to be a leader in climate change.

“We can’t wait when powerful forces are turning their prejudice into policy and rolling back the rights that generations of Americans fought for and heroes died for,” Booker said. “We can’t wait when this administration is throwing children fleeing violence into cages, banning Muslims from entering the nation founded on religious liberty and preventing brave transgender Americans from serving the country they love.”

In a race that features six senators, Booker has often sought to shift the focus from his time in Washington to his tenure in what is known as the Brick City, when he was a young, upstart mayor who quickly achieved celebrity status for his well-documented and social-media-fueled efforts to turn around Newark.

But it is a pitch that is not without risk. While Newark, which has a population of 285,000, is clearly in the midst of a revival, it still struggles with crime and poverty. The median household income is roughly $20,000 less than the national average, and more than 28% of the city’s...