# Julian Castro - VP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 23, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896 "2016-02-23T18:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/61 "2016-02-26T04:06:25Z")
Well, no, although I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon that he never would have won if he was white. I will say that a state legislator running for Senator doesn’t usually get to keynote. As for Castro, c’mon! The people talking him up already point to his race as pretty much THE factor in selecting him. If he was black we wouldn’t be having this conversation either, because there are much more qualified black candidates. He’s the most qualified Latino who hasn’t taken a stand against the progressive base on any issues. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/62 "2016-02-26T04:10:05Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Well, no, although I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon that he never would have won if he was white. I will say that a state legislator running for Senator doesn’t usually get to keynote. > > As for Castro, c’mon! The people talking him up already point to his race as pretty much THE factor in selecting him. If he was black we wouldn’t be having this conversation either, because there are much more qualified black candidates. > > He’s the most qualified Latino who hasn’t taken a stand against the progressive base on any issues. Bullshit – Richardson and Ken Salazar are plenty qualified, but are _old_. Yes, Castro is probably the most qualified _young_ Latino Democrat – and considering his age, his qualifications are awfully impressive. Add 8 years of Veep to his resume (assuming he would get through the vetting process), and that’d be plenty of experience to be Prez. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/63 "2016-02-26T04:20:08Z")
Forgot about Xavier Becerra (CA 34th district Congressman), who actually could have a (slim) chance at being picked for VP. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/64 "2016-02-26T10:50:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Well, no, although I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon that he never would have won if he was white. I will say that a state legislator running for Senator doesn’t usually get to keynote. > > As for Castro, c’mon! The people talking him up already point to his race as pretty much THE factor in selecting him. If he was black we wouldn’t be having this conversation either, because there are much more qualified black candidates. > > He’s the most qualified Latino who hasn’t taken a stand against the progressive base on any issues. So, Castro really scares you. Thanks for playing! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/65 "2016-02-26T11:53:38Z")
True, in the same way Marco Rubio scares you. Only without the benefit of having been elected statewide to prove his electoral appeal. Chase the Latino vote all you want, it’s African-American turnout that’s going to elect Clinton or deny her once again. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/66 "2016-02-26T13:10:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > True, in the same way Marco Rubio scares you. Only without the benefit of having been elected statewide to prove his electoral appeal. > > Chase the Latino vote all you want, it’s African-American turnout that’s going to elect Clinton or deny her once again. I’m sure Clinton will do just fine, matter who she picks. Rubio is a lightweight. As a Texan, I see Castro (actually, both Castros) playing the long game. _The New Yorker_[interviewed Ted Cruz back in 2012](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/11/19/the-party-next-time). > [@](#): > > As a senator from Texas, the largest and most important state in the Republican firmament, Cruz has a special role in the post-Romney debate. At the Presidential level, Texas has thirty-eight electoral votes, second only to California, which has fifty-five. It anchors the modern Republican Party, in the same way that California and New York anchor the Democratic Party. But, Cruz told me, the once unthinkable idea of Texas becoming a Democratic state is now a real possibility. > > “If Republicans do not do better in the Hispanic community,” he said, “in a few short years Republicans will no longer be the majority party in our state.” He ticked off some statistics: in 2004, George W. Bush won forty-four per cent of the Hispanic vote nationally; in 2008, John McCain won just thirty-one per cent. On Tuesday, Romney fared even worse. > > “In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat,” he said. “If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple. We won’t be talking about Ohio, we won’t be talking about Florida or Virginia, because it won’t matter. If Texas is bright blue, you can’t get to two-seventy electoral votes. The Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party. Our kids and grandkids would study how this used to be a national political party. ‘They had Conventions, they nominated Presidential candidates. They don’t exist anymore.’ ” Cruz may win the Republican primary in Texas. But he won’t be getting the \*Tejano \*vote. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/67 "2016-02-26T13:21:03Z")
Texas isn’t turning blue anytime soon because those pesky Hispanic Texans keep on voting insufficiently Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/68 "2016-02-26T13:42:38Z")
I didn’t say “soon.” But when Your Party nominates the guy who says most Mexicans are rapists, that will help. (And watching you deciding you love Trump after all will be lots of fun.) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/69 "2016-02-26T13:44:37Z")
Never gonna happen, unless he’s well into his Presidency and is actually doing well. As for Trump and Mexicans. we’ll see. Demographic change is not set in stone and Trump intends to slow down that change a lot, thus keeping Texas quite red for the remainder of our lifetimes. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/70 "2016-02-26T13:46:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is the same kind of bullshit that Obama never could have been elected if he were white. A white politician with Obama’s talents would have been President at age 40. Thanks for the laugh!!! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/71 "2016-02-26T14:24:20Z")
So, Democrats never run their minority candidates statewide… This, claimed when the highest office in the land is held by a man who worked his way up the ladder as a minority Democrat in a statewide position. You want to claim that that doesn’t mean much? Sure, go ahead. But don’t try to claim the exact opposite. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/72 "2016-02-26T14:31:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, Democrats never run their minority candidates statewide… This, claimed when the highest office in the land is held by a man who worked his way up the ladder as a minority Democrat in a statewide position. > > You want to claim that that doesn’t mean much? Sure, go ahead. But don’t try to claim the exact opposite. In recent decades, Democrats have elected many more minority state-wide candidates than Republicans. **adaher** is just totally factually wrong about this. The only numbers he checked were for this exact moment, and he even got those wrong (both parties have 3 minority Senators right now). ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/73 "2016-02-26T18:22:15Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Never gonna happen, unless he’s well into his Presidency and is actually doing well. As for Trump and Mexicans. we’ll see. Demographic change is not set in stone and Trump intends to slow down that change a lot, thus keeping Texas quite red for the remainder of our lifetimes. So you’re already seeing The Good Side of The Donald. Soon you’ll be a true fan! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896/74 "2016-02-27T03:20:12Z")
The only way I’ll ever support Trump is if he somehow wins and proves himself as President. Gary Johnson and the possibility of Michael Bloomberg gives me alternatives to vote for. Assuming it’s Johnson, I’ll be working to get Johnson a record LP vote total, which is quite possible with two candidates totally anathema to libertarians running. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julian-castro-vp/746896.md?page=3)