Carefully managing Julian Castro
It is uniquely a Democratic Party phenomenon; when a dark horse wins the presidency and the terms have expired, that comes in its wake? Here come the over-the-hill wanna-be hacks who have already been through the presidential candidate grinding machine, and despite the fact that they have already been found wanting, here they are again, deluding themselves and all their Democratic friends that this time it is 'their turn' on the throne.
It is the old trap of arrogant entitlement so prevalent with Democratic Party politicians. What makes it all the more annoying is that the highest seat of office is seen as a dynastic right, that somehow the public will approve of the presidency as a 'family affair'. For those of you with long enough memories, we can all remember how well that went.
Would Hillary make a good president? Of course she would. Hillary Clinton has a long track record as an excellent high administrative official capable of good, sound judgement.
Would she win? Probably not.
Nothing gets the Republican elephant so excited as when you wave Hillary at it, and you can be sure her candidacy will have them hitting the voting booth high numbers.
Then there is the 'old face' phenomenon. Even a sympathetic voter likes something new. Watching old guard politicians with all them bone-rattling closets banging about during election time gets very, very tiring. They just don't get it. There is no 'their turn'.
The Democratic Party always does well with the 'Dark Horse' approach, but the tactic is so often stymied by the hovering barflies of yesterday's political repast.
Obama's 'promotion' of Julian Castro to the running of HUD might be seen as a benign positive move, but perhaps there is a not so hidden agenda here. Basically, it gets rid of him as a potential threat to Hillary Clinton's bid for the highest office. By becoming the head of HUD, it is with the understanding that this will sideline him into the vice president candidacy, thus eliminating him as a potential rival for 2016.
Julian Castro has shown himself to be a very intelligent and charismatic individual; were he to run for office in 2016, he would certainly bring a lot of latino citizens to the voting booth.
On the other hand, were he to end up playing second fiddle to a presidential candidate who's chances of carrying the prize of the presidency are at best questionable, then win or loose, by 2024 he would be just another Democratic political hack going in for failed seconds.
Having been reelected for a third term as Mayor of San Antonio with 82.9% of the votes, he has proven himself to be a highly popular political figure.
Could the 'dark horse' approach work again for the Democratic Party? Being the first Hispanic to deliver the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention in 2012 hardly makes him any more obscure than Obama was when he gave his Democratic National Convention address a scant term before his presidency.
Obama was a dark horse and he won; Castro can too. Hillary - as much as I respect and like her - can't.
Dark horses work well for the Democratic Party. Ultimately, the US electorate have a messianic bent, and Democratic voters like new blood, so it would make sense that rather than sidelining Julian Castro as a 'step and fetch it' man for the hair apparent, he ought to be their front running candidate.
At least they would stand a chance of winning.
