PHILADELPHIA -- Cory Booker had been under consideration to be former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's running mate, but in the end, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee chose another U.S. senator, Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Here are five reasons Kaine and not Booker will be nominated at the Democratic National Convention here.
1. Experience matters.
Kaine is a former mayor, lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator, as well as a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He sits on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, providing an extra layer of expertise in an election that could turn on national security following a series of terrorist attacks here and abroad.
Booker served as mayor of Newark before winning election to the U.S. Senate in 2013.
Clinton's VP pick is Kaine, not Booker
2. Clinton felt the Democratic base will turn out given the alternative.
Republican nominee Donald Trump has called for deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants and banning Muslims from entering the U.S. He has vowed to nominate Supreme Court justices committed to overturning abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Both Republicans and Democrats criticized Trump for what they said were racist remarks.
So Booker's ability to energize those voters may not be necessary. The problem for Clinton is they may decide to stay home instead.
3. Kaine could appeal to disaffected Republicans.
Booker appeals to progressives. Kaine is more likely to appeal to more moderate and independent voters, many of whom ordinarily vote Republican, but won't this fall because Trump is the party's nominee.
Even as he sees to work across party lines on issues such as finding alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, Booker has a reputation of being much more liberal than Kaine.
4. Virginia is a swing state.
In the last four presidential elections, Democrats won two and Republicans two. Virginia is one the states that both candidates will target this fall, and putting the popular U.S. senator on the ticket will help the Democratic ticket.
New Jersey, on the other hand, hasn't supported a Republican for president since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
5. Booker would cost the Democrats a U.S. Senate seat.
The Democrats need to gain five seats to win back the Senate majority they lost in 2014 (four if Clinton wins the White House). If Booker was elected vice president, then Gov. Chris Christie would get to fill the vacancy temporarily with a Republican, costing the Democrats a seat.
The Virginia governor is a Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, and presumably he would fill Kaine's seat with a member of their party.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook