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In 2008 Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the United States of America. This begs the question, Can we expect more diversity filling the White House in the near future? While there is still the 2012 election to be decided come November 6th, some experts are looking forward to the possibility of a Hispanic President as soon as 2016. A frontrunner in many people’s minds is San Antonio Mayor, Julian Castro.
Mayor Castro was first elected mayor in 2009 after serving for years as a city councilman for San Antonio as well. The Stanford University and Harvard Law graduate is now most known for his keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention this past week. The role of keynote speaker was filled by another young politician in 2004 by the name of Barack Obama.
Castro’s speech and political resume as mayor have begun to earn him comparisons to President Obama. The experts making these comparisons are also speculating that Mayor Castro may follow in President Obama’s footsteps from the podium at the Democratic Convention to the Oval Office. Both men share similar success stories of rising from humble beginnings. In the 2008 election Obama’s background inspired many voters to come out and participate in the election. A very important group this election season is the Hispanic voters. With Mayor Castro speaking at the convention, the Obama administration hopes to appeal to more of the Hispanic voters this November.
More importantly for Mayor Castro was the publicity that he received because of his rousing speech. Castro is gaining support and gaining it quickly. Is it possible that he will complete his rise to popularity with a Presidential bid? What do you think?
Immigration Talk 
i think this is a possibility if he gains enough interest from Hispanic voters.. Obamas had a lot of support from the younger generation because they really wanted to see change. I believe that if the hispanic population that can vote, votes, then he def has a good chance.
The idea of having a Latino president in the United States is an interesting point to explore, especially after we elected our first African American president four years ago. However, I believe that it will take at least a couple of decades before a Latino is elected to the presidential office. We are living racially tense times. Racial aggression towards non white ethnic groups, especially Latinos, is especially high at this point in American history. These discriminatory attitudes can be seen everywhere, you just have to pay attention to political speeches, media, etc. In this anti Latino environment, it would be quite difficult to elect a Latino president. The United States still has a view of what an American is supposed to look like, be like, speak like, etc. It does not matter if a person was born in the United States and lived all their lives in the country. Let’s take into account President Obama’s experience during his election times. He was, and still is being questioned about his nationality, even though he has proven to be an American born in the state of Hawaii and whose mother is an American! For me, the most fascinating part of this issue is the fact that Republican presidential candidate John McCain was born in the Panama Canal, but his Americanism has never been questioned. How would people react to a Latino presidential candidate? I can only imagine. Now, there are good news for those who wish we elect a Latino president at one point and that is that the percentage of Latinos in our country is growing and it is projected that Latinos will be a majority by the year 2040. I hope to live to see that day, not because I am a Latina woman but because that would be an indication of progress in our way of thinking as Americans (it would also be ideal to see a woman be elected president!). I hope we elect a Native American president, an Arab American, an Asian American…until we forget the word before American and we just elect Americans regardless of their ethnicity.
I believe that it is definitely a possibility for this man to become President in the near future. I like that you made comparison between him and Obama, especially the keynote speaker reference. It wasn’t too long ago that if you said there would be a black President in office, people would call you crazy, but this country has come a long ways. In the end, I believe it just depends on his ideals, how he appeals to voters, and the way he carries himself if he does choose to run. Just like it would be unfortunate if he is not elected because of his ethnicity, it would also be bad if he was elected just because of his ethnicity. Only time will tell if Castro can become the first Latino American President.
I think this topic is of considerable interest in light of the upcoming presidential elections. We have seen the Republican party appeal to immigrants, to Latinos, and the working class during their National Convention speeches and throughout their campaign as a whole. However, the question still arises as to whether their efforts to appeal to such communities originates from a place of understanding, empathy, and/or wish to support them. In my personal opinion, our country has a long way to go to before we see a Hispanic president, specially coming from the Republican Party. What immediately comes to mind is Ann Romney’s address to the Hispanic community in the Latino Coalition Luncheon in Tampa, Florida (here’s a link to her speech http://youtu.be/8dZv8OGwaPI ). She mentions how it is “very important that the Latino community recognize how important this election is for them,” how Latino’s need to wake up and “really look at the issues this time” and how they need to “get past some of their biases that have been there from the Democratic machines that have made [the Republican Party] look like we don’t care about [the Latino] community.” Taking such a paternalistic attitude, Ann Romney assumes that Latino’s are not aware of the issues, implying that the community is uneducated and unaware of issues at stake. Also, she suggests that Latino’s have to overcome their biases against the party, instead of recognizing the history of discrimination and bias against the Latino community from the Republican Party and government in general. She also tries to appeal to immigrants in general by mentioning her grandfather, a Welsh coal miner. However, her previous comments make me skeptical of whether or not she truly understands the struggles many immigrants face today. So while it is inspiring to see a Hispanic political figure, such as Mayor Castro, becoming such a supported figure amongst many, I hope that his invitation to speak at the Convention stems not only from the wish to appeal to the Latino and immigrant population, but also from the desire to genuinely support and fairly represent this community….Time will tell.