This article is dated, but I felt it important to post to show that Castro as Hillary's VP has been in the works for the past couple of years. There is also ties between Castro who is now Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is affiliated with the Clinton Foundation. Also note that Rubio and Cruz are mentioned in the article as the Republican potential nominees ...enter Donald Trump who took them out.
The Clintons break bread and build ties with Julian Castro, stoking talk of a 2016 ticketAs she expands her political network in advance of an expected presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband have been cultivating an important ally who some believe could become her vice presidential running mate.
Former president Bill Clinton invited Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and incoming Obama Cabinet secretary, to the Clintons’ home in Washington last week for a private dinner that friends described as a chance for Democratic leaders from different generations to become better acquainted.
Castro, 39, who is scheduled to be sworn in Monday as secretary of housing and urban development, traveled to New York in July to join Hillary Clinton, as well as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, at a children’s song and dance performance for the Bronx Children’s Museum’s youth arts program.
And in March, Hillary Clinton sat next to Henry Cisneros, who served in her husband’s Cabinet, at a private luncheon in New Mexico, where Cisneros said they discussed Castro and his political future.
“It’s a natural friendship waiting to bloom,” said Cisneros, also a former San Antonio mayor and a longtime family friend and political mentor of Castro and his identical twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.).
Said another person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to alienate either camp, “The Clintons are keeping the Castros very close to them.”
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering illustrates how the Clintons are trying to acclimate themselves into a Democratic Party that has evolved and nurtured new stars in the years since they ceded the stage to Barack Obama in 2008.
For the Clintons, there are clear advantages to building an alliance with Castro. A young and dynamic figure who broke onto the national scene with his keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Castro is arguably the only Hispanic Democrat with a broad following. Although his background as a Mexican American could have broad appeal to Hispanic voters, Castro does not speak fluent Spanish.
Assuming Clinton runs for president, keeping Castro and his brother on her side is key because any sign of wavering in their support of her candidacy during the Democratic primaries could complicate her attempts to court the increasingly influential Hispanic electorate.
Should Clinton win the Democratic nomination, Castro could find himself on Clinton’s vice presidential short list. Clinton may face pressure to select a Hispanic running mate, especially considering that the Republican Party could field two Latino presidential candidates, Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.). Other Latino Republicans, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, have been mentioned as potential vice presidential candidates.
“If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, there will be many considerations, but certainly one of them will be the next generation and another one will be the significance of the Latino community,” Cisneros said. “Clearly, if you were putting together a list of five people in the country who could potentially be a contributing running mate, you would have to put Julian Castro on that list.”
There are benefits for Castro, too, in establishing closer ties to the Clintons. During his third term as mayor, he resigned to join President Obama’s Cabinet, a move that close associates said could demonstrate national political experience he would need to be seriously considered for vice president. Even if Clinton bypassed him as a running mate, Castro could land a different high-profile post in her administration should she win or could run for statewide office in Texas with support from the Clinton network....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-clintons-break-bread-and-build-ties-with-julian-castro-stoking-talk-of-a-2016-ticket/2014/08/14/ad57c662-23c3-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html
