The former Obama-era Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary and San Antonio mayor, Julian Castro, can add presidential hopeful to his list of former titles. It seems the new year brought a new clarity, as just the next day, on Thursday, Jan. 2, Mr. Castro announced his realization that he wasn’t going to win and called it quits:
“I'm so proud of the campaign we've run together. We've shaped the conversation on so many important issues in this race, stood up for the most vulnerable people and given a voice to those who are often forgotten. But with only a month until the Iowa Caucuses, and given the circumstances of this campaign season, I've determined that it simply isn't our time. So today, it's with a heavy heart and with profound gratitude that I will suspend my campaign for president."
So that’s another Democrat down, leaving just 14 – despite the fact that Americans in general only know a handful of their names. Much as was the case with Tim Ryan, the shocking news here isn’t that he quit, but how long he held on.
A Longshot From the Beginning
Despite his pride in his accomplishments in this campaign, our first Democrat drop-out of the new year spent most of 2019 polling so low he barely made the debates and had trouble bringing in the cash needed to keep his campaign afloat. It seems the only things the Castro crew really accomplished were blowing no less than $6.8 million on a failed campaign and disproving – though only barely – this author’s prediction that he would be next to call it quits after Beto O’Rourke.
Castro managed to stay above the polling minimum for the first four debates but failed to qualify for the last two. While the first two debates required candidates poll at 1% or better in at least three surveys, Castro managed this in eight and twelve polls, respectively. Debates three and four required 2% in four polls, and Castro pulled this off as well, with five for the third event and seven for the fourth. But by the fifth and sixth debates, which required 3% and 4% in four different polls, Castro couldn’t get above the 3% mark in anyone’s book.
Julian Castro (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
What’s in a Name?
“… it simply isn’t our time.” Castro seems to believe that America just isn’t ready for what he brings to the table – but the time will come eventually! “It will take at least another fifty years before America is ready to even consider electing someone with the name Castro,” suggests Liberty Nation’s Graham J. Noble. But name issues aside, here’s hoping it will be longer than that before America is ready for a president offering the level of socialism Julian – like another Castro all together – would have fought for. People first was his slogan, but all that “free” stuff, like the education, childcare, health care, increased SNAP (food stamps), etc. would be tax-funded, meaning a heavier burden on the people. And don’t forget his plan to battle racism and violence by targeting free speech and gun ownership.
What else did Castro have going for him? Well, his grandmother came from Mexico – a point he made sure to make often during his campaign. However, just as Kamala Harris proved that a candidate must be more than just black and female, now we know that Hispanic ancestry alone isn’t enough. Who will be next to give it up?
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Read more from James Fite.
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