A nice first night for the Democrats.
Julian Castro is an up and comer from San Antonio and his keynote speech was surely not be the last we will see from him. His twin brother is apparently running for Congress right now as well, so we could have a Castro tag-team in the making. He speaks very well and used his speech to introduce himself and to press the class warfare theme that President Obama has made a central theme of his presidency and his campaign.
Castro made a pitch to voters based largely on emotional lines, identifying closely with immigrants and the multi-generational climb from poverty to the American dream that he and his family have enjoyed, while diminishing Mitt Romney's success and his subsequent inability to identify with lower income people by insisting that Romney "doesn't get it".
Castro's speech was especially interesting for how it contrasted with the Republican keynote speech delivered by Christ Christie last week with regards to government policy. Castro insisted that opportunity comes largely from the government and that what is needed is to tax the rich more, and then to redistribute that wealth (and more) as directed by government through a myriad of government programs. In other words, he was defending the status quo role of government and all of its various programs, without speaking constructively about fixing the spiraling national debt or the need to reform our government.
Chris Christie on the other hand, laid out a bold vision for what was required to save our nation from financial disaster and to take on the very difficult choices that will need to be made to reform our government, making it effective in its limited role not only for this generation, but for generations to come.
Here is a key quote from Castro's speech:
Julian Castro is an up and comer from San Antonio and his keynote speech was surely not be the last we will see from him. His twin brother is apparently running for Congress right now as well, so we could have a Castro tag-team in the making. He speaks very well and used his speech to introduce himself and to press the class warfare theme that President Obama has made a central theme of his presidency and his campaign.
Castro made a pitch to voters based largely on emotional lines, identifying closely with immigrants and the multi-generational climb from poverty to the American dream that he and his family have enjoyed, while diminishing Mitt Romney's success and his subsequent inability to identify with lower income people by insisting that Romney "doesn't get it".
Castro's speech was especially interesting for how it contrasted with the Republican keynote speech delivered by Christ Christie last week with regards to government policy. Castro insisted that opportunity comes largely from the government and that what is needed is to tax the rich more, and then to redistribute that wealth (and more) as directed by government through a myriad of government programs. In other words, he was defending the status quo role of government and all of its various programs, without speaking constructively about fixing the spiraling national debt or the need to reform our government.
Chris Christie on the other hand, laid out a bold vision for what was required to save our nation from financial disaster and to take on the very difficult choices that will need to be made to reform our government, making it effective in its limited role not only for this generation, but for generations to come.
Here is a key quote from Castro's speech:
