Is Julian Castro headed for the White House?

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro arrives to introduce President Barack Obama at Central High School, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, in Phoenix, about the recovering housing sector. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) less Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro arrives to introduce President Barack Obama at Central High School, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, in Phoenix, about the recovering housing sector. (AP ... more Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press Image 1 of / 53 Caption Close Is Julian Castro headed for the White House? 1 / 53 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — Is San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro the next Barack Obama?

It isn't inquiring minds in San Antonio, or Texans in general, asking that question. It's Die Zeit, one of Germany's leading weekly newspapers, in a full-page profile on the mayor that ran April 10.

In it, author Martin Klingst, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the newspaper, writes that Castro isn't just another mayor, “he's the new star of his party.

“Slight and unassuming … he comes across as a youthful version of Barack Obama at the beginning of his political career. Democrats hope that he will one day succeed Obama as president — as the first Latino to hold the office.”

The article goes on to say that it's just a matter of time before the first Latino wins the White House.

“The Democrats believe that with Julián Castro, they have found their candidate.”

Based on some of what the mayor told the reporter during the interview, that way of thinking also is shared by Castro.

“Sometime, says Castro, he wants to spend a year in Latin America with his wife and young daughter to perfect his Spanish. That has to wait, because the Democrats need him at home. They're concerned that at the current time, two graying Anglos are warming up to run for president in 2016: the 66-year-old former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the nearly 71-year-old Vice President Joe Biden. So it's good that the 39-year-old Julián Castro is in reserve. And Obama has previously shown how a novice can pull ahead of the favorites.”

If that happens, the White House will be in for one big Fiesta party of its own.

More Information



See the article in German

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