Castro's debate triumph is a milestone moment for Latinos

For someone who has been criticized for playing it safe, Castro got kudos for his impassioned remarks about how the humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border should anger us all, and for asking why white police officers find it easier to apprehend "without incident" white suspects who are armed than black suspects who are unarmed.

He also delivered one of the big applause lines of the night when, in his closing remarks, he promised that, in January 2021, Americans will say "adios" to President Trump. Before long, #AdiosTrump was also trending.

Finally, before the night was over, other candidates were agreeing with Castro on policy initiatives, which reinforced the idea that he has led the way in proposing specific solutions to our problems.

What do I take away from all this, as someone who has known Castro for nearly 20 years?

Simply this: I'm not surprised my friend did well. Grit is more valuable than glitz. Hard work pays off. There is no substitute for preparation and putting in the time on the issues. Castro "wonked" out and led the pack. He was confident but not cocky, passionate but not overly emotional, measured but not boring. He successfully struck one delicate balance after another.

I still have concerns. I'm not sure if he could stand up to Trump, who is a kind of human dumpster fire. I also worry that someone who started off as a moderate -- as are many Mexican Americans -- might drift so far to the left on social issues that he'll never find his way back to the center.

Nonetheless, Castro has earned the glory of this moment. Not bad for a candidate who has been polling at 1% in Iowa, and 0% in New Hampshire, and someone that the New York- and Washington-based media have largely ignored.

That reminds me. How do you define white-woman privilege? It's when a Latino wins a presidential debate and media commentators respond with: "You know, he'd make a great running mate for Elizabeth Warren!"

Move aside, Joe Biden. The Massachusetts senator is the media's new favorite Democrat. Warren got the first question of the night from NBC's Savannah Guthrie, and her proposals -- on free tuition, taxing the wealthy and breaking up tech companies -- were the focus of the next three questions to other candidates. Then Guthrie returned to Warren to explain her own positions. That's love.

As Castro showed in a historic performance, Latinos have come a long way in presidential politics. But there is still a long road ahead.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.