Julian Castro was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Obama in 2014. He is the former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas where he earned a national reputation as a leader in progressive urban development. Previously, he served on the City Council.
He earned his B.A. from Stanford and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Erica, have a son and daughter. He brings youth, geographical balance, executive experience, no baggage and Latino votes to the ticket.
A Clinton / Castro alliance would be a progressive one-two punch to knock out anyone the conservatives nominate. If victorious, they could nominate Senator Sanders as Treasury Secretary to implement his vision for economic justice and Joe Biden as Secretary of State to keep America at peace with the world.
Peace, Prosperity and Progress. That’s 3 of a kind that TRUMPS all ! A man can still dream, can’t he ?
Fred Rich LaRiccia
I don’t know much about Castro other than hearing about his sterling resume and how he’s definitely the future of the party.
My understanding is that San Antonio is a weak mayor city (largely run by a city council appointed city manager). What are his major accomplishments as mayor or as HUD Secretary? Does he actually have a solid progressive record? Including taking risks for those values in a state where they are often not so welcome?
That would be a lot more important to know than where he went to school, how old he is, and what his family makeup is.
I’m not saying there isn’t a there there, but where’s the evidence that there is a lot more to Castro than hype?
I want to see some progressive bona fides rather than just a great tv presence and perfect resume (same reasons why I could not get excited about Seth Moulton).
from that bumper sticker!
especially now that we’ve normalized relations with Cuba ! I can hear the puke-cons now : ” He must be a Communist Lefty ! ”
But the irony is that he’s not Cuban. His family emigrated from Mexico. His mother was an organizer in the Latino community. Julian doesn’t even speak Spanish. I know how this works because I grew up as the grandson of Italian immigrants who came here around 1900. Though both my parents could speak Italian they never did while raising my 10 siblings and me. My Mom was a public school teacher and they wanted us to be American all the way. My dad went so far as to change our name to ‘Rich’ after the anti-immigrant hysteria of the Sacco-Vanzetti trial when they were accused of
murder. I believe they were convicted and put to death because they were anarchists.
Before his death my Dad told me he regretted changing his name. He said he did it to spare us from the discrimination he felt growing up. And it’s true that growing up most folks thought I was English Yankee or Jewish. I made him a promise that I would change it back to our original name which means ‘curly hair’. Irony is, that my dad was prematurely bald. He was a boxer and told us that taking so many showers had washed the oils from his hair and he would have Mom rub olive oil in his scalp to bring it back. My bros and I had laughing fits at poor Dad’s expense !
Sorry for straying off topic. But I am in the process of vetting Secretary Castro and will report back when I have vetted him further. Stay tuned.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
It’s the Clinton part that leaves me less than enthused.