Castro discovers America -- one voter at a time

He understands that, in presidential campaigns, what seems to matter today will be forgotten a few weeks now. He recently told The Texas Tribune that he's confident that he'll do well "by the time people start voting."

I caught up with Castro during a recent swing through California. The first thing I asked him: Does he want it bad enough?

"I wouldn't put myself through this crazy process in this day and age, wouldn't have to run the gantlet of everything from a million different criticisms to Twitter trolls to outright lies about you as a person, unless I had a great passion for making a difference in this country," he said. "I'm not the loudest candidate or the loudest personality, but I've shown my desire to make a big difference for people. I believe that's what counts."

Of course, these days, what really counts is putting on a show. So, I asked, what's The Julian Show?

"There's always some showmanship," he said. "The question is what kind of show do people want right now? And this campaign is a counter-program to Donald Trump's show. People want the opposite of Trump -- somebody who's levelheaded, inclusive, honest, focused on the future, and trying to bring people together instead of tearing them apart."

Finally, I asked, does it bother him that other hopefuls get more attention?

"Right now, I'm more concerned about the basic building blocks of a successful campaign than whether I'm in the spotlight all the time," he said. "People can have the spotlight a year from the voting. What I want is solid building blocks, and a strong campaign in a race that's in play."

While others say they were born to run for president, Castro always stresses that he was not born a front-runner. In fact, he says, there are a lot of Americans who today don't feel much like front-runners. Yet, every day, just like him, they lace up their sneakers and continue the race.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.