NEW JERSEY POLITICAL RUMOR: Cory Booker has been the mayor of Newark, NJ now for about 8 months. For those of you non-New Jerseyians, Cory is a young reformer from a suburban county who adopted Newark, an old run-down city, as his cause. Cory, who has a Yale law degree, served Newark as a councilman for 4 years, then in 2002 challenged long-time Newark mayor Sharpe James and lost. Sharpe finally called it quits in 06, deciding not to run for a 5th term. The election thus became a slam-dunk for Cory. So he finally got what he fought so long and so hard for.

But there are signs in the wind that Cory is getting a bit frustrated about the limits of his power. There’s a nasty problem with gangs and drugs and fatal shootings in Newark, and Cory is now the man who gets the blame for all that (even if he doesn’t deserve it). He brought in a savvy new police director from New York City, but it could be years until the guy can make a dent in the problem. Cory is taking the heat for other stuff too, including tax increases and accusations of contracting with his cronies. So you couldn’t really blame Cory for wondering if his dream-come-true isn’t so dreamy after all.

And you (or I, anyway) couldn’t really blame Mayor Booker if the rumor going around in Essex County political circles is true, i.e. that he wants to make a run for the new lieutenant governor seat that New Jersey will establish in 2010 (to be on the ballot in the November, 2009 election). Governor Jon Corzine will most likely run for a second term in 2009, and he would need to choose a running mate. Cory would give the Democratic ticket a shot of youth and lend some racial balance. He’d be a natural for the position. Because he’s still young, he would eventually get his chance at the governor’s mansion.

But that would mean him leaving Newark before the end of his first term as mayor. Cory fought so hard to become mayor, swearing his love and devotion to the city. But perhaps the romance has soured. Reality has hit, and perhaps Cory has seen that the old urban neighborhoods of New Jersey (and everywhere else in the country) can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Cities are strongly tied to their metro regions, and to the greater economy of the state in general. Cory might argue that the only way to truly help the people of Newark and Paterson and Camden is for him to operate on a more regional level, where greater resources and opportunities can be directed. And that would make some sense.

Still, it’s sad to see another youthful dream getting beaten up so badly by political reality.