Thousands of Hillary Clinton supporters crowded inside Sunset Station on Thursday morning, welcoming the Democratic presidential candidate to the Alamo City as she launched her “Latinos for Hillary” campaign. Clinton’s visit was marked by an official endorsement from U.S. Housing & Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, a San Antonio native and a potential running mate in the 2016 presidential race.
“I think really highly of (Castro), and I am thrilled to have his endorsement today,” Clinton said. “I am going to really look hard at him for anything – that’s how good he is.”
Clinton, yet to face her first caucus challenge in Iowa and primary challenge in New Hampshire, isn’t talking publicly about a likely running mate, but the endorsement from Castro furthered speculation that he could be her choice for vice president if she wins the Democratic nomination or as a member of her cabinet if she goes on to win the general election in November.
Still, it’s intriguing to imagine the Latinos for Hillary campaign returning to San Antonio late next summer so Clinton and Castro can reunite, this time as the Democratic ticket.
According to the Pew Research Center, a record 11.2 million Latinos voted for President Obama’s re-election win over Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012. Even Democrats believe Texas will a Red State for the forseeable future. Despite the state’s growing Hispanic population, low participation and turnout is one o f several factors keeping Texas from becoming a two-party state. The biggest Latino voter turnout rates for national elections are in key electoral swing states such as Colorado, Florida and Nevada.
That doesn’t stop candidate from both parties courting the growing Latino vote. San Antonio’s Latino population trails Miami and Houston, but Castro’s endorsement of Clinton could raise San Antonio’s profile as growing Latino city in 2016.
Prior to the endorsement, Clinton participated in a Q&A session hosted by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where she discussed her approach to comprehensive immigration reform and addressed some of the recent anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from GOP presidential candidates, particularly the outspoken frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump.
“Immigration is good for America. Immigration built our country and has provided a pathway for opportunity,” Clinton told Hispanic Chamber President Javier Palomarez. “We have to call people out when they say Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and rapists. Somebody needs to say, ‘Basta! Just stop.’”
Clinton told the audience that she wanted to be known as the “small business president,” and credited her time as a U.S. senator in New York with helping her create positive business relationships and helping new businesses grow.
“Hispanic owned businesses are the fastest growing in America, and Hispanic women are starting more businesses at a faster rate than anyone else,” she told an audience of local business and community leaders. “I want to create more paths forward for you to be successful that will disproportionately help the Hispanic community because you are disproportionately creating small businesses and I want to see more success from the ground up.”
Clinton joined Julián Castro and his twin brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro onstage after the Q&A session. The energetic and enthusiastic audience cheered as Julián, former San Antonio mayor, praised Clinton for her work to improve the livelihood and opportunities for the Latino community.
“In 2016, the Latino community is going to play a critical role in electing the next president, so you couldn’t have chosen a better city to kick off Latinos for Hillary than right here,” Julián said. He also mentioned Clinton’s grass-roots campaign work in San Antonio in 1972, when she helped register voters for Sen. George McGovern (D-South Dakota) and his ill-fated presidential campaign opposing Republican Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War. “Over the years she always been here for us, and today, we are here for her.”
The Latinos for Hillary campaign hopes to bring in more voters to the polls in anticipation of the Texas Democratic Primary on March 1. Clinton’s performance in the first Democratic debate earned positive reviews and likely eliminated Vice President Joe Biden as a potential candidate. Her chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) a self-described socialist whose straight talk has resonated with voters of all ages and ignited an unexpected grass-roots challenge to the Clinton campaign. Other Democratic candidates, including former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), are seen as underfunded longshots.
“As far as her campaign goes, San Antonio is an important stop, and I feel that we’re at the epicenter at what the future of politics will be and look like,” state Rep. Diego Bernal (D-123) said of Clinton’s visit to San Antonio. “We’ve risen above the silliness that you’ve seen in the Republican Party. We don’t have the stomach for it, and we don’t have the appetite for it.
“On a personal level, I think that we have an interest in her future running mate if she chooses a certain someone,” Bernal added with a smile.
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Great.
Use taxpayers’ money to refurbish the so-called “Sunset Station” building (but only after Amtrak and its passengers have been unceremoniously kicked out), then redesignate the depot as a venue for special events – so that professional politicians can swing through town to hold glorified fundraising events.
It’s the American Way!
Why doesnt she proclaim this on national tv? Appealing to an audience in a case by case fashion is a great way to not look authentic
According to various internet news sites, she may be preparing to do just that.
I take it as a politician paying attention to her audience. It’s easy to give the same rambling stump speech day in and day out without regard for where you are. Hillary was speaking to a diverse crowd in majority-Latino city so she’s going to speak to their issues.
Putting Castro in this still doesn’t get my vote. I’m all for Sanders. Clinton seems so…fake.
I am all team Hillary but it ends if she makes Castro her VP
BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT! #FEELTHEBERN
I just want to know how many who criticize here actually vote in the presidential election? Tons of big talk, but based on the numbers, probably very few here who cast a ballot
Benjamin,
I understand your point, but the percentage of Rivard Report participants who are also politically active is probably pretty high.
Garl
#HillaryClinton2016
Enough of Clinton and Bush dynasties. Our country needs a real shift from corporate to social interest, #feeltheBern
Not this Latino.
Hillary Clinton is saying that she wants free college education for all illegal immigrants. Many people from all over the world want to come to the U.S. to study at our universities. If Hillary Clinton gets elected President, anyone around the world that can make it illegally to the United States, will have a free education on us, the tax payers, while our own kids will have to pay for their own education. Is that really the kind of President that you want?
I’d love to see a quote, or better yet a video of Clinton saying that she supports providing a free college education on your dime, when those same people would be denied a social security card or drivers license by any state government or possibly deported by the federal government. That would be quite a position to take.