I have not written on this blog for ages.  I am involved in two larger projects which take time and effort.  However, my sister, given my life in journalism and government, assumed I knew Julián Castro.  When she asked me about him, I took note.

My sister has been my personal political barometer for years.  Better than Gallup or Pew or Quinnipiac or Suffolk.  The day the Monica Lewinsky bombshell exploded, I was a speechwriter in the Clinton Administration.  After a few hours of the frenzy that followed, with Bill Clinton’s opponents shrieking for his resignation, I called my sister and asked what she thought.  She was not happy.  But she lingered only for a few moments in silence and told me what the country would ultimately conclude about Clinton after the hysteria of an impeachment trial:  His behavior was reprehensible but he had been good at his job and he should stay. 

When she asked about Castro, I told her I had met the former mayor of San Antonio and member of the Cabinet in the Obama Administration, but only that.  The same holds for twin brother Joaquín, who is a member of Congress.  I know only a bit better their mother, Rosie, who is a figure in her own right. 

On the Castro twins I have been agnostic.  But now, as the field of candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination unfolds in these days of Trumpian politics, my view is coming into focus, as must be those of Hispanic/Latinos like my sister who want to give a Spanish-surnamed candidate the benefit of a doubt. 

Like many of us, she has been wading through the sea of candidates looking for the one with ballast.  She got emotionally involved with Beto O’Rourke in the necessary battle last year against the odious Ted Cruz.  She is now cool on O’Rourke, again reflecting the public mood.  O’Rourke’s poll numbers have begun to plummet. 

In the void Beto is leaving, Julián is finding his voice, and in doing so becoming real to individuals like my sister and me.  Julián is authentic Hispanic/Latino, born in Texas.  His Spanish might not be the best, but as I have pondered whom to support it has become apparent to me that if Hispanic/Latinos are ever going to be at the table, we need to support our own.  Perhaps Florida can teach us a lesson.  There, enough of the Hispanic/Latinos who traditionally vote Democratic have supported Republican Marco Rubio in his two races for the Senate.  And most Hispanic/Latinos in Florida, including almost half of Cuban Americans, now vote Democratic in presidential elections.  And so Rubio has been a proponent for non-Cuban Hispanic/Latino communities interested in positive immigration reform.

Regarding Julián:  He is obviously and eminently more qualified to be President than Donald Trump.  That Julián is Stanford and Harvard is too trite, although you would think that would be enough, especially when saying awful, ignorant things is the currency of the day.  When shouting passes for leadership and charisma mistaken for character, Julián’s youthful appearance is magnified:  He is more choir boy than charlatan, more of value than vulgar, more serious than showboat, more truthful than tendentious.

He is also, as we would say, buena gente.  And, Lord, do we need good people now.  Julián is starting to come across on the screen, and perhaps Hispanic/Latino voters across the nation will rally to his side.  After all, African Americans support their own by 95-percent margins, white voters by 60 percent white candidates, Jewish Americans theirs, gays and lesbians theirs – why should Hispanic/Latinos think that we alone should rise above it all?  I wonder if any eligible American voter of Irish descent voted against John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Hispanic/Latinos have supported candidates of every stripe and color.  Let us continue to be fair and good people, tolerant of all.  But let us not be stupid. 

The Democratic ticket most likely will win next year, and it will set in motion politics within the Democratic Party and the public policy of the country for the next ten years.  I believe the Hispanic/Latino population is elementally essential for the survival of this country, and it would be nice if we came in from the political periphery.

Since I am as American as anyone else, I think I should vote for someone who is of my own life – and as good as the other Democratic candidates on the issues.  Does anyone else in the race know the Hispanic/Latino community – meaning me and the people I know – better than Julián?  It is unclear to me why Hispanic/Latinos in California would vote necessarily for Kamala Harris; or John Hickenlooper in Colorado; or Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts; or Corey Booker in New Jersey; or Kirsten Gillibrand in New York; or Jay Inslee in Washington.  I know local politics matter, and these are great people, all – but not necessarily better than Julián.

To whom does anyone considering running for public office turn to first?  Family.  Julián Castro is the closest to family that Hispanic/Latinos anywhere in the nation have among the candidates running for office. 

Hispanic/ Latinos are the largest minority population in at least 27 states.  To make the cut for the first nationally televised debate, Julián needs 65,000 individuals – whatever they can afford – to donate to his campaign with a minimum of 200 donors in at least 20 different states.  I think my sister – the most buena of any gente I know – is going to be among the ones who helps put Julián on that stage. 

I shall follow her lead, again, and do the same. 

And our family probably will, too.

Jesús (Jesse) Treviño is a former journalist and speechwriter in the Clinton and Obama administrations. He lives in Austin, Texas.