Today the DNC announced that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will deliver the keynote address Sept. 4th at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Currently the youngest mayor of a major US city, he will be the first hispanic to deliver the speech and it comes in a year when the Latino vote is expected to make a great impact in swing states particularly Colorado and Florida. In 2004 Barack Obama used this same opportunity to enter the national stage suggesting that Castro is not only being considered the future of the Texas Democratic party but the national party as well. The last Texan to deliver the keynote address was Ann Richards in 1988.
His twin brother Joaquin will enter Congress next year and both are thought to have bright political futures ahead of them. Castro has indicated that he plans to remain in the Mayor's office until 2017 but after delivering an inspiring speech at the Texas Democratic Party state convention in Houston earlier this summer many Democrats don't intend to wait that long before pressuring him to run for federal or statewide office. One example of his leadership came earlier this year when amid state and national conversations about budget cuts the Mayor actually proposed a tax increase to fund Pre-K for low income children in San Antonio.
Today is election day and Texan's will have an opportunity to send the first hispanic ever to represent Texas in the US Senate- as a Republican. Ted Cruz, positioning himself as a darling of the Tea Party is thought to be more radical and possibly easier to defeat in the next cycle over more moderate Dewhurst. Either candidate is likely to face and predicted to beat an underfunded Paul Sadler in the Nov. general election. As the demographics continue to shift in Texas it may actually become more difficult to unseat an incumbent hispanic particularly if he evolves into a more mainstream politician as Dewhurst suggests with his "D.C. PAC Man" and "TeDCruz" ads.
Democrats may lose the honor of electing the first hispanic Senator from Texas but some see an opportunity in the future to elect the first hispanic President. Earlier this month at a fundraiser in San Antonio President Obama said, "You're not considered one of the battleground states, although that's going to be changing soon,". Could this have been foreshadowing of the role the Castros might play in that trasnformation? In today's video announcement Mayor Castro said, "Being the keynote speaker this year is an honor I don't take lightly. I know Ive got some big shoes to fill. Two conventions ago the keynote speaker was a guy named Barack Obama. I remember watching his speech in 2004 and being inspired."
Today the DNC announced that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will deliver the keynote address Sept. 4th at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Currently the youngest mayor of a major US city, he will be the first hispanic to deliver the speech and it comes in a year when the Latino vote is expected to make a great impact in swing states particularly Colorado and Florida. In 2004 Barack Obama used this same opportunity to enter the national stage suggesting that Castro is not only being considered the future of the Texas Democratic party but the national party as well. The last Texan to deliver the keynote address was Ann Richards in 1988.
