Cory Booker boasts of attracting voters who see 'some weakness to Biden'

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has been struggling to stay afloat in the Democratic primary, but he's now talking more optimistically — and suggests former Vice President Joe Biden may be partially to thank for it, The New York Times reports.

Booker's biggest hurdle right now is financial support. The Times notes he's had to explicitly petition supporters for donations to keep him in the race. He even came close to crashing out before the last debate before ultimately meeting his campaign's target goal by the end of last quarter.

The campaign is still struggling to reel in the funds it needs, but Booker is reportedly banking on Biden's candidacy faltering, which he thinks will allow him to gain some traction as a natural moderate replacement for the former vice president. "I have to say this last few weeks, a lot of — a lot more people seem to be coming around, and I think some of this might be because they're seeing some weakness to Biden," Booker told the Times.

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A little bit of confidence doesn't hurt, but Booker is far from the only candidate who thinks he's the one that could snatch the moderate vote if Biden does slip. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surged the most in recent weeks, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is also after the mantle. Read more at The New York Times.