Reminder – San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro had less responsibility than Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin
Currently Sec. of HHS, he’s learning how to speak Spanish as part of grooming for Hillary’s Veep.
Once again, there is buzz about former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro as a possible VP pick for Hillary. Castro was given the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services as part of grooming him for the national stage:
2016 identity politics: We’ll meet your Marco Rubio, and raise you a Julian Castro.
And prepping was what Castro needed, since as we pointed out in May 2014, Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio had less responsibility than Mayor Sarah Palin of Wasilla since his position was part time and the city was run by a manager, not the Mayor:
I assumed that the position of Mayor of San Antonio was a serious job, like being the Mayor of many other big cities. While a spot on a presidential ticket for someone who never was more than a Mayor would be unusual, we have had Mayors like Rudy Guiliani make presidential runs.
I gave Castro the benefit of the doubt on managerial and policy experience. I was wrong.
It turns out that being Mayor of San Antonio involves no more responsibility than being Mayor of Wasilla, and maybe less….
A rising Democratic star with almost no actual managerial or policy experience, who looks good on camera, gives good speeches, has a compelling “life story,” and will energize the Democratic base through identity politics. Nah, that couldn’t work.
Oh, wait.
Politico (h/t Drudge) reports on the continuing effort to groom Castro. He’s even learning Spanish!
At home, Julián Castro’s been spending more time reading and watching television in Spanish, trying to get his speaking skills up to speed.
On the job as Housing and Urban Development secretary, he’s been carefully working the levers in Washington, with coaching from Bill Clinton and a twin brother who’s a popular and up-and-coming congressman himself.
Starting Saturday, he’ll be out on the trail for Hillary Clinton in in Nevada, Iowa and Maine.
He’s plotted his rise carefully, studying and strategizing with a clear goal in sight. But if Clinton picks him to be her running mate, it’ll be more about perfectly fitting his party’s moment and the nearly non-existent Democratic bench than about his 18 months as a HUD secretary who hasn’t left a deep mark at his agency, the White House or the housing world.
Castro is afraid of real experience, because it might make him look bad if something went wrong on his watch. Politico further reports:
He said no to Homeland Security before anyone ever offered it, after a Democratic operative with White House ties reached out to gauge his interest in taking over for Janet Napolitano. No way, Castro and his tight circle of advisers decided. The concern wasn’t that he had no national security or law enforcement experience, but, according to people familiar with the conversations at the time, because: what if there was an attack on his watch? That would have ended the political career he’d started with a fundraiser with his twin brother among his Harvard Law classmates before they graduated.
If Hillary is the nominee, and Castro the Veep, expect the media to swoon. Particularly when he speaks Spanish, which by next summer he may have mastered.
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Comments
Marco Rubio could put Julian Castro away if he challenged him to a debate, or better yet, a town hall format, all of which would be in Spanish on Univision (or some such format). As much as I hate to admit it, Rubio would be a strong second as the vice-presidential nominee for a number of candidates.
Being hispanic isn’t enough. He needs to come out as a gay Muslim with 15% Cherokee blood who knows nothing about computers or servers.
And be a natural born idiot like Biden.
Feel the Bern?
OR
Feel the Castro-ation?
You decide.
Your “bad” puns, which I thoroughly enjoy btw, make me wonder if Rush will do a parody of the poster for “Weekend at Bernies.”
You penguins always make me laugh. (And I love the way you slide on your bellies.)
As “mayor” of San Antonio, Castro was a non-entity. I don’t recall hearing anything – good or bad – about him during his term.
(San Antonio resident – and proud Texan – since 1986)
This is a serious problem with the 2 party system. You end up with whatever both parties crap up. And whatever is crapped up has to work it’s way thru both parties system’s in the 1st place.
Unless you get a self funding billionaire wildcard that no one can say what he’ll do. He’s a reflection of his supporters frustration’s.
I can see the Branco cartoon of Hillary practicing her Southern accent in the mirror as Julian Castro sits nearby practicing el lingo with Rosetta Stone.
I can see it, but I can’t draw it.
Ay, Caramba!
Or, as the Hispanic ladies at work who love to tease me as I tease them say,
“Listen Beach Boy … Nacho.”
Luke: Nacho??
Ladies: Nacho business!
I wonder if Julian will be able to reach that level by November?
Es muy dificil, Julian, no?
Why the gratuitous insult of Palin? As mayor of Wasilla, she brought jobs, new business, and improved the town. Wasilla after Palin was a much improved small town. Because of her tenure as Wasilla’s mayor, Palin came to the attention of the Oil & Gas people. She also mounted and won her race for governor on the strength of that executive experience. So why the slap?
@Juba Doobai!
I think you might have misinterpreted what Professor J is saying. The left laughed at and mocked Palin’s experience as mayor. I think the Professor is saying, “Well, okay then, Lefties, but Julian Castro’s experience as mayor of San Antonio carried less responsibility than Palin’s as mayor of Wasilla.”
Which I believe is a valid point. I remember reading more than once something to the effect that the position of mayor of San Antonio is almost completely a sort of ceremonial (for lack of a better word at the moment) position with no real duties or responsibilities, unlike some cities’ mayoral positions which might be more akin to city manager and entail real decision making skills. It sounds like Palin’s position (which the left mocked) was more the city-manager type of mayoral position, and Castro’s just ceremonial ribbon cutting and handing out the key to the city, etc.
You may be right. I was very surprised by the remark given the source. If it had been one of the others, like Kaye, no big surprise there. Apologies to Wm.
Yeah, that’s how I took it too… pointing out the boundless hypocrisy of the Dims, the lying sacks of shit that they are.
sounds like they’re training a sock puppet
Already been done – Senor Wences from the Ed Sullivan Show
That’s awesome!!!
Professor, slight editing change, HUD not HHS. Thank you!
Get ready to hear from La Raza….. and you ain’t heard nothing yet on the subjects of open borders and restoring the southwest back to Mexico.
Yep, little Castro was literally raised on the knees of America-hating Marxists who espouse “Reconquista” which is taking back parts of the USA for Mexico.
“La Raza” translates to “The Race”.
But conservatives are racist, huh?
“La raza” can mean “the race”, or it can just mean “the people”, “the folk”.
Like most cities in Texas, the mayor is just one member of the city council. Each member of the city council has one vote. The mayor will sometimes have the ability to prioritize the council meetings agenda, but very little additional power beyond prioritizing the meeting agenda. (though this power is determined by each separate cities’ city charter.
It is the city council that votes to hire the city manager. The city manager is the person who runs the city, Effectively the CEO of the city, with the city council being the equivilant of the board of directors.
WhoLeon! He’s the best GimmeThat in town. You should see him put his hand out—palm up.