In quest for Democratic nomination, Castro stays on track -- and stays on message
SAN DIEGO -- In a crowded field, Julian Castro shows us that one way to climb up is to keep your head down.
Even if the polls don't show it. Castro is registering at just 1% in Iowa, an early-voting and overwhelmingly white state charged with choosing a president for a country that is -- with every census count -- becoming less white.
What do polls tell us anyway? In the 2016 election, most polls showed Hillary Clinton winning the presidency.
This is not to say that -- on the eve of the first prime-time Democratic debates -- the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development is a shoo-in to win the nomination. Twenty-three candidates are vying for that prize, and 22 of them are going to walk away empty-handed.
What I mean is that my friend of 17 years is one smart cookie, and he's got a team of other smart cookies. Together, they've come up with a good strategy. While other campaigns are reactive, Team Castro is proactive.
Unlike the seven U.S. senators and four members of Congress who are also running for the nomination -- and who spend much of their time in Washington -- Team Castro doesn't seem to be constantly vying to get on television.
Whether he's in Las Vegas visiting homeless encampments or in Flint, Michigan, hearing about clean water, Castro seems to have only one mission: to connect with people. Those connections take place at campaign events, via Twitter, and through internet videos where the candidate -- who presents well -- keeps followers up-to-date on his latest policy proposals.
The plans get spit out like bullets from a Gatling gun. Every week, there is another one -- on immigration, universal pre-K, Medicare for all, police reform, a 21st-century Marshall Plan to aid Latin America, etc.
Meanwhile, opponents are busy raising money, threatening to impeach President Trump, and trying to come off as more racially enlightened than Democratic front-runner Joe Biden. Also, they're afraid to tackle the messier issues.
As The Associated Press noted, only two Democrats running for president have released "detailed, written policies addressing the future of the immigration system."
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