Julián Castro’s Mom Always Wanted Him to Be This Outspoken

I had enthusiastically supported Castro, even “following” him on Facebook since he hit the scene in 2008 with his brilliant address at the convention. Since his shamelessly discriminatory attack on Vice President Biden, I have “unfollowed” Castro and vowed to never cast my vote for him. As an employment attorney, it is my experience that age discrimination is by far the most common form. More prevalent than discrimination based on race and religion by a long shot. It is so common that it happens reflexively and often goes unnoticed. Try being 60 and obtaining an entry level job. By callously insulting Biden to score a cheap point, Castro laid bare his prodigious political ambitions and underlying bigotry. Legally, if Castro treated an employee in such a hostile manner, it would be actionable under federal ( age discrimination in employment act) and state law. We already have a bigot in the White House.

He appeared to take his cue from the Chris Christie/Marco Rubio 2016 debate exchange at St. Anselm’s College. Unfortunately, Castro ended up looking like a rude opportunist. So did Christie.

Julian Castro is ready, has the education, the political and life experience, and above all a man of and for the people - all people!

We need to know a little bit more history of the southwest. I'm originally from AZ, and one of my Chicano friends from college liked to point out that some of his family settled in Tucson in the early 19th century when it was part of Mexico, long before some of my family had even arrived . Like the Castros, he isn't "white" enough to pass into Anglo society and was regularly called "greaser" and "beaner". He got out of the barrio Guadalupe in Tempe, and taught for years in the rural barrio of Stafford AZ.

Too bad, he doesn't have any substance to back up his activism.

I think it is terrible when he made fun of Joe Biden’s age. Ageism - like all ism’s has no place in our culture. Should be ashamed of himself. I expect that from Trump, but not Democrat’s.

He is not ready for the national stage yet. Serving in the Cabinet is great experience, but elected to City Council and Mayor isn't enough yet. It is overambitious, in my humble estimation. We are almost one year away from Election Day. Castro, and other Dems not resonating with voters, should use their knowledge, passion, power to back other candidates and start bringing synergy to the Party.

Castro is an outstanding American that has dedicated his whole life to making America great. Unconscious bias exists in the Democrats’ side too. With Castro’s journey and trajectory —Harvard, Stanford, rose from nothing, impeccable and irreproachable record, political career of elected and appointed successful tenures, etc— if he was Anglo or Asian or African American, Democrats would have thrown themselves at him. But Democrats have yet to value the Latino community at all levels, and this is an example. Fortunately, the backlash of Trump’s presidency will bring huge change. And with that change both Democrats and Republicans will have to fight hard to get the Latino vote: 25% of all Millenials are Latinos, according to the US Census. May the best party— the one that will REALLY engage Latinos at all levels— win!

Wonder if he questions her memory all the time?

Nope. He attacked another candidate based on that candidate's age. That's bad enough, but he was incorrect in making those charges and, to my knowledge, has never admitted so. He should be telling us how he will heal the nation, not causing further divisions.

Thanks for this thoughtful commentary on Julian Castro that is long overdue. He is an impressive candidate who has been long ignored by the press. I am glad to see someone who has made the brutal treatment of migrants a cornerstone of his campaign. Our nation will eventually look back in shame at our abandonement of human rights in favor if nativist keep-em-out policies. These policies are not based in fact, just race-based appeals to people's fears.

Mr. Castro stands for what he believes in. He has to have a slightly more inclusive message for the national stage, but I understand his grief and anger about what is happening. He is not alone in feeling the horror of having a president that distorts the meaning of the position. Insults people just because he can. It is embarrassing to have a president who is racist and hateful, and can't even manage to stay with basic ideas - even his own. The way he talks reminds me of the things a friend used to say when hospitalized for psychosis. The only thing Trump hasn't said directly so far is that he's Jesus, but that could come any day now. Or maybe he has in private. When it comes it will not surprise me at all. We are in dark times, and I'm glad that candidates like Julian Castro are stepping forward. We need young people of all political bents to be involved in government. Desperately.

How dreadful is this man? Imagine suggesting we treat people - so desperate they actually walked through Mexico to get to our country - like human beings? That sort of compassion isn’t for us, clearly. It’s also ridiculous how many people seem to think his sharp comment at Biden was out of line, too. Firstly, it wasn’t; secondly, wait until Trump gets his hands on Biden in a debate. He may not be polling well and the presidency may have been overly ambitious for him but he’s pushing the conversation on important issues and for that we should all be grateful.

Castro is barely registering on national polls and hasn’t made any progress towards qualifying for the November debates. Why are we even talking about him?

This country has been made great by immigrants like Castro, bringing their culture and need for a better life to make America what it has been for over 200 years. If Trump truly wants to make this a better country, he should pack up his entire family and move somewhere else.

Family values personified. Nice to know they are listening to their mother.

It is not difficult to advocate for a general justice while willfully ignoring the individual value of the person, that is, exercising empathy. Mr. Castro's bigoted repetition, questioning Joe Biden's memory was despicable. All the pundits from the liberal media denounced Mr. Castro's behavior toward Joe Biden. In the previous debates, Mr. Castro, with less than 2% in the polls, displayed a demagoguery on illegal immigration. His flip flop on the development project in seeking to become mayor of San Antonio underscores the relativity of his principles. I despise DT, but I would not want to see one demagogue replaced with a candidate who has displayed the bigotry and demagoguery of Mr. Castro. I would not want to see him on the ticket, or in the cabinet. Only one candidate had the courage to criticize Mr. Castro's conduct that night -- Pete Buttigieg.

I wish Mr. Castro a lot of luck. Hes doing good work fighting against racism and this racist clown in the white house. Something needs to be done about the immigration laws that are designed with compassion and kindness along with wisdom and fairness. I didn't care for the way he attacked Joe Biden but theres several things that Joe Biden has done over the years that I strongly disagree with. Starting with the way he conducted the hearings regarding clarence Thomas and the supreme court.

I find his temperament unappealing, beginning with the debate where he insulted his fellow Texan, Beto O'Rourke, for supposedly 'not doing your homework'. That followed by him denigrating Joe Biden completely turned me off.

Mr Castro doesn’t seem to think that as an American he should be acting in the best interests of our country and people. The last time I heard him on the debate stage, half of his proposals were aimed towards elevating and encouraging illegal immigrants. He’ll never get my vote.

I can't get past the way he treated Joe Biden on that debate stage. It made me want to cry. I also dislike his pandering to those who have or would immigrate here illegally, but his taunting, abusive demeanor at the last debate really made my disagreement with his policy positions turn to personal distaste. We all get older every day. That he can't see that and have empathy and respect for someone at a different life stage from his own makes his professed "empathy" for any other group seem disingenuous, shallow and self-serving.