May God bless you with Julian Castro as a running mate.
I believe Julian Castro to be the choice for running mate for Secretary Clinton. I hope she will give the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development a deep look. There are other exciting possibilities, but Secretary Castro, in my opinion, has the best combination of abilities, experience, charisma and natural talent.
The combination of Hillary Clinton and Julian Castro would, in my mind, be the closest thing to a sure bet in present-day American politics. Can you see any Republican configuration challenging them in a battle for electoral votes? More on that later.
Julian Castro was an early endorser of Hillary Clinton for President. In fact, his endorsement came on October 15, 2015. Back then, Reuters wrote a story headlined: “Clinton to 'look hard' at Julian Castro as possible VP pick.”
Why? Because Julian Castro is a kind of badass, possibly a Jedi. He has a great story. He’s an effective politician. He’s got a great track record, and he can relate to people. He’s well educated and thinks and talks like it. Like President Obama, he will not talk down to you. He expects you to think up. He is also the wave of the future. The Reuters story states:
"’I am going to look really hard at him for anything, because that's how good he is,’ Clinton said at a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce meeting in San Antonio, Texas, when asked if Castro might be her vice presidential pick.”
John F. Kennedy and Teddy Roosevelt.
Secretary Castro is only 41 years old. Yet, he has a resume that includes four years as a San Antonio City Council member, five years as Mayor of San Antonio, as well as two years as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (by the time of the general election). I believe his youth would act as a balance on the ticket. But is he too young?
Teddy Roosevelt, at the age of 42, was the youngest to serve as President because of the assassination of William McKinley. Before serving as VP, Roosevelt spent approximately six years in appointed or elected political office. At 43, John F. Kennedy was the youngest person elected President. Julian Castro will be 42 years old before the general election in November 2016.
In his power-packed 41 years, Secretary Castro has managed to become Stanford and Harvard law educated, get elected as mayor of one of our top ten cities at the age of 34, serve five years in that capacity, give a keynote address at the Democratic Convention, and become a part of President Obama’s Cabinet as the Secretary of HUD at the age of 39.
In 2001, Julian became the youngest city council member in San Antonio history, a year after graduating from law school. “In 2011, the Milken Institute ranked San Antonio the nation's top-performing local economy.”
Oh, and he has a twin brother who is a Member of Congress. This is the Castro Revolution we’ve been waiting for!
Bright Lights, Big City.
How would he handle the spotlight? Julian Castro has shown he can handle the brightest lights and the toughest challenges. He has been on the biggest stages and debated the toughest GOP debaters, more than holding his own.
A. Debating.
Here and below we see Julian Castro debate Senator Ted Cruz on issues such as health care reform, education and immigration. Then-Mayor Castro wins with substance and style, and Cruz is one of the best debaters the Republicans have to offer. Moreover, he was prescient enough to say, back in 2012, that people would be singing a different tune in the future about ObamaCare. He also used, effectively, the terms “Ronald Reagan” on the issue of immigration and “RomneyCare” about the Affordable Care Act. He knows how to craft a persuasive argument, and he can do it using the terms and phrases of the opposition.
Notice how he looks at ease compared to Cruz. He is comfortable in his own skin, and he is comfortable saying what he is saying, always with that disarming smile.
Also, in this debate, Mayor Castro said, “I don’t believe that taxes are inherently evil.” Then, he repeated it for emphasis. He was talking about an eighth-of-a-cent tax increase to pay for Pre-K in San Antonio. He made his case. I also enjoyed his metaphors and the visual nature of his presentation. When discussing the state of the economy in 2012, he reminded the people at home what the economy was like when President Obama took over in 2008. He suggested that folks look up the headlines in 2008 as a reminder. They tell the story.
B. The Keynote Address.
In his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, then-Mayor Castro educated a lot of people about himself and about important issues, including White Privilege:
In introducing himself, Julian Castro spoke of his daughter and his mother:
C. The LBJ Library in Texas Spends “An Evening with Joaquin and Julian Castro.”
"Very brave these days, especially in a state like Texas, to be publically in favor of a tax increase. In fact, putting your public and political capital behind raising taxes." That’s what the moderator of the event said at about 13:11 of the video. It was about how then-Mayor Castro risked his political star on helping 22,400 four-year-old children obtain high quality, full-day pre-kindergarten. The LBJ discussion also covered Medicaid Expansion (for it morally and economically), public education (against vouchers), immigration reform (for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship), guns (for assault weapon and high-capacity magazine bans and for universal background checks), as well as voter participation of Hispanics (for it).
Secretary Castro has been exceptionally effective, and yet I have seen some outrageous objections on daily kos to his selection as a running mate. The next few paragraphs discuss some of those concerns.
The “Spanish-Speaking” Talking Point.
There are people at daily kos who have complained because Julian Castro is learning to speak better Spanish. Those folks should be warned and then, if they persist, flagged. Here's why: It stinks of White Privilege. This is from the eye-opening book, Japanese American Internment During World War II, by Wendy Ng:
"When the camps began to close in 1946, Japanese Americans were encouraged to resettle in areas throughout the United States. Although there are still large Japanese American communities throughout the West Coast, after camp, many families moved out of the Japanese ethnic enclaves to integrate middle- and working-class neighborhoods, cities, and suburbs. Thus, many Sansei (third-generation Japanese Americans) were raised in communities where there were few Japanese Americans. Sansei report that their parents encouraged them to be high achieving, socially and educationally. Their proof of 'Americanness' was economic and social mobility. To achieve this one had to do one's best and prove oneself as a model citizen. A great deal of emphasis was placed on assimilation. That meant that Sansei were not taught to speak Japanese, thus making it difficult for them to communicate with their Issei (first-generation Japanese American) grandparents."
(emphasis added). Again from Ms. Ng's book:
"One Issei (first-generation Japanese American) who wanted to become a U.S. citizen was Takao Ozawa. He arrived in the United States as a student in 1894, and attended schools in California, including the University of California, Berkeley. Ozawa later settled in Hawaii, married, started a family, and worked for an American company. In 1914, he filed an application for U.S. citizenship. His application for citizenship was denied because the court declared that Ozawa was 'in every way eminently qualified under the statutes to become an American citizen' except that he was not 'white.' Ozawa decided to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here, he told the Court that he was a true American, that he made sure that his wife was educated in the United States, that he spoke English at home with his children, and that he did not have any connection with the Japanese government. He also stated that he was loyal to the United States and grateful for the opportunity the country had given him. In 1922, the Court handed down their decision. Ozawa was not entitled to naturalized citizenship simply because he was not Caucasian."
(emphasis added). Finally, from the same book we learn the story of Mitsuye Endo, a young lady who challenged the Japanese evacuation orders all the way to the Supreme Court and won. The lawyers who picked her considered many potential clients for this test case. "Endo was selected because her 'life' credentials held the most appeal. She was selected because she had the 'best background' for a test case: She was a U.S. citizen, she did not speak Japanese...."
Do I need to write anything else? Professor Wendy Ng has covered it all. Using the disgusting after-effects of prejudice to attack somebody is inappropriate on this site and anywhere else.
The Bullshit “Selling Mortgages to Wall Street” Kerfuffle.
Opposition to Secretary Castro as a potential Vice President took a seedy twist recently when a stir rose up from the internet claiming that as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro was selling distressed home mortgages to Wall Street. This is from a Politico article:
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of Sanders’ few endorsers in Congress, complained about the program to Castro last week in a letter obtained by Politico.
“Your own Distressed Asset Stabilization Program, which was designed to help right the wrongs of the meltdown years, has been selling homes that once belonged to the families I’ve spoken with at rock-bottom prices to the Wall Street entities that created this situation in the first place,” Grijalva wrote.
The argument is that more of the distressed home mortgages should have been sold to non-profits, and that Secretary Castro had not made the effort to do that. Of course, I had to do the research myself. This is what I found:
Notice the date on the HUD announcement. A full year before people began claiming that Secretary Castro wasn’t doing anything to sell distressed home mortgages to non-profits (and not Wall Street), Secretary Castro was doing something to sell distressed home mortgages to non-profits (and not Wall Street). There’s more:
In October 2015—six months before the seedy allegation came up—Secretary Castro’s Housing and Urban Development was doing everything in its power to bring in non-profit purchasers of distressed mortgages. That’s the date of this webinar. Since then, HUD has held multiple sales of assets restricted solely to non-profits:
Moreover, non-profits can bid in all of the asset sales. Now, thanks to Secretary Castro, they have certain sales only open to them. As you can see, Secretary Castro has made great efforts in selling home mortgages to non-profits, and, he has required that any purchaser of mortgages must wait a year to attempt foreclosure. Importantly, he managed to make all of those crucial changes become reality within 16 months of taking office.
If you are a Democrat, and you want to air allegations against a Democrat, please do your fucking homework.
Capabilities, Not Age.
Can he do the job? That’s the ultimate question. In my opinion, it is ageist to claim that somebody is to old to do the job when they can do the job. The same applies to youth. As Secretary of Housing and Urban Development—not the sexiest cabinet appointment—he has managed to get a lot done.
HUD, under Secretary Castro, has managed to launch a new Healthy Homes app, allocate $174 million through the New Housing Trust Fund, make more than $37 million available to fight housing discrimination, award $355 million to local homeless programs, offer $2 million in grants to research how to reduce housing-related health hazards, and charge multiple landlords or owners with housing discrimination.
As Mayor of San Antonio, a job that some claim has no power, Secretary Castro used his moral and political capital to fight for a tax increase to pay for Pre-K for over 20,000 children. He won. Even while we were coming out of the greatest recession since the Great Depression, he got a city in Texas to agree to a tax increase.
Mayor Castro created SA2020, which was an attempt to set goals and visions for San Antonio for the long term. You can see their excellent website
here. SA2020 has since become a not-for-profit entity that strives to turn those goals and visions into reality. Even after leaving for Washington, the group is still going strong, holding the city government accountable. He also established Cafe College, which provides college guidance to San Antonio students. You can see their wonderful website
here.
He can debate with the best of them. He can give a great speech. He can be wonkish (see the Comedy Central video below), and he can be charming while stating the facts and numbers that show you why you are wrong.
Energy, Charisma, Tackling the Young Vote
Check, check and check! Education is his mantra. He fights for it, and he believes in its power. So, what better way to show off your energy, charisma and appeal to youth than a TED Talk about education? Here he is:
Okay, I’m not cynical enough to believe that Julian Castro will magically conjure up the youth vote just because he can walk around a stage with an open collar and a fancy headset microphone. So, I’m going to up the ante with a Daily Show interview with Jon Stewart:
What I liked about this interview was how quickly Jon Stewart can say the words, “United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,” and how Secretary Castro, instead, called his agency, “The Department of Opportunity.” And, the “Walking around money” bit was pretty funny, too.
Balancing the Ticket and Moving Souls to the Polls.
The next giant in American politics will be Latino voters. Republicans are capturing way too many of them in Texas right now. MundoFox, Fox Deportes, Nat Geo Mundo and Fox Life are the Death Stars that are nearing completion. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio made noise in the GOP primary. We need our own Luke Skywalker.
Julian Castro’s dynamic personality would be an excellent balance to Hillary Clinton’s “policy wonkishness.” But don’t be fooled: He can wonk. His cheerful disposition would stand out against the anger and fear of the Republican challengers.
Can he bring a big, juicy red state to the blue state side? No. Maybe. I don’t know. It might get interesting, though. You see, Texas was 32% Hispanic in 2008. It became 38.2% Hispanic by 2012. Now? Of course Hispanics won’t vote with one voice, but this will be a Presidential election year, and Castro on the ticket would surely do better than the Wendy Davis performance in an off-year election:
“Abbott also improved on Perry’s performance with Hispanics, winning 43 percent of Hispanic votes to 57 percent for Davis. Perry won 38 percent of Hispanic votes to White’s 61 percent in 2010.”
That is, admittedly, somewhat disheartening. However, there is hope. After the stain on our politics that has been Donald Trump, and after Greg Abbott has shown he is at a minimum very unhinged, it would not surprise to see the Republicans play defense in Texas, especially down ballot. Resources spent there mean less money spent in Florida and Ohio and Georgia.
Georgia?
Yes, Georgia. Texas might be a pipe dream but Georgia is a peach ripe for the picking. Georgia was only 5.3% Hispanic in 2008, but it became 9.2% by 2012. What is it now? John McCain’s margin of victory in 2008 was 5.2% in Georgia.
Virginia and North Carolina were 8.4% and 8.7% Hispanic back in 2012 respectively. Those aren’t must-win states for Democrats, but wouldn’t it be nice to coast to victory? Wouldn’t it be nice to grab the Senate and the House of Representatives?
House Math.
Or, is the House of Representatives really just a pipe dream? I don’t think so. Here are a few reasons why: Republicans have nominated a madman without a filter. They have ceded to Democrats the opportunity to run a Latino in this election.
Also, Democrats do better during Presidential cycles.
Finally, please consider this: There are 188 Democrats in the House of Representatives right now. In 2009, after Senator Obama finished his take down of John McCain, there were 178 Republicans in the House. Still, you need 218 members for a majority, how do we get there? A wave election.
More House Math.
Democrats, with the right ticket—especially one that makes history—can run up the score on Republicans. That results in a wave election. Democrats need 30 seats to take over the House of Representatives. That seems hard to do if you consider that Senator Obama only added 21 Democratic seats in 2008. But, a wave is a wave is a wave. Every boat gets rocked. I would argue that what Senator Obama did in 2008 was more difficult: Adding 21 Democrats to a House that already sported a 37-seat Democratic advantage. Here’s something I’m looking at:
Adding 30 seats in the House of Representatives to reach a majority of 218 seems a tall task, but it’s not as tall as you might think. Senator Obama added 21 seats at a time when the House was already packed with Democrats. We get there because of history, a madman and our own Luke Skywalker.
Conclusion.
Do me a favor. Watch the debate between Cruz and Castro. It’s only an hour long, and it’s only somewhat boring. After that, you will have a more educated opinion.