Did Cory Booker Bring Back Filibuster Fashion?

It’s difficult to talk about the extremely American (i.e. cinematic and somewhat nonsensical) political practice of filibustering—or, in other words, making a long speech in order to delay or prevent a law from being passed—without mentioning Wendy Davis. In 2013, the former Texas state senator famously spent 11 straight hours on the Senate floor trying to prevent the passage of a bill that would close almost all of her state’s abortion clinics—and she did it in a sky-blue Escada day coat and a pair of pink and green Mizuno running shoes. (The latter instantly sold out online after getting just a tad more political exposure than sneakers normally do.)

It’s been over a decade (and, incidentally, one Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade) since Davis’s filibuster, and amid a plethora of constitutional crises and a dearth of meaningful pushback from elected Democrats, none other than New Jersey senator Cory Booker has taken up the resistance mantle by delivering an anti-Trump speech in the Senate for 25 jaw-dropping hours. (On Tuesday night, Booker set a new record for the longest Senate speech ever given, surpassing Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 24-hour screed against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.)

Naturally, the speech instantly got the social-media meme treatment:

Technically, Booker’s speech was not a filibuster, as he was not trying to delay the passage of legislation or the confirmation of a political nominee. Nevertheless, spiritually speaking, it felt closely linked to Davis’s sneaker-clad Senate marathon—not just in its content (though said content was commendable, identifying the Trump administration’s “grave and urgent” threats “to the American people and American democracy”), but in its style too.

Of course, Booker’s speech outfit wasn’t necessarily as punchy or as memorable as Davis’s was; he was dressed in a simple black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. But then again, when someone’s standing on his own two feet for an entire day in an effort to protect the interests of the American public, does it really matter what he has on?

That isn’t to say that I don’t have questions about Booker’s look. These include: Why didn’t he remove his jacket? Was he not allowed to? Wasn’t he roasting? And was he wearing running shoes, too?

If any DC tipsters want to let me in on the sartorial secrets of Booker’s Senate-floor ’fit, please feel free to DM me, but in the meantime, I’ll be rewatching Booker’s speech and marveling at the triumph of an indefatigable human spirit.