Opinion of Julián Castro

[136or142]

1) He's the best Democratic candidate on housing, which is one of my top issues.
2) He's the worst Democratic candidate on immigration.
3) His attack on Biden was clumsy, but at least he tried.

I dislike the whole "this is what The American People are sick of hearing" cliché, so it was nice to hear someone rebuke Buttigieg for his insistence that the candidates stick to wind-up platitudes.

On the whole, I don't like him very much, but he's brought more to this contest than most candidates running outside of the top tier, and he's done that without resorting to the cheap stunt of running as the [hot button issue/politically advantageous demographic/have you heard about the recent tragedy in my hometown] candidate.

I like Buttigieg, but I found the irony rather amusing.  In making his pitch for civility, he rudely cut off Andrew Yang who had been given the floor to speak.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

1) He's the best Democratic candidate on housing, which is one of my top issues.
2) He's the worst Democratic candidate on immigration.
3) His attack on Biden was clumsy, but at least he tried.

I dislike the whole "this is what The American People are sick of hearing" cliché, so it was nice to hear someone rebuke Buttigieg for his insistence that the candidates stick to wind-up platitudes.

On the whole, I don't like him very much, but he's brought more to this contest than most candidates running outside of the top tier, and he's done that without resorting to the cheap stunt of running as the [hot button issue/politically advantageous demographic/have you heard about the recent tragedy in my hometown] candidate.

I like Buttigieg, but I found the irony rather amusing.  In making his pitch for civility, he rudely cut off Andrew Yang who had been given the floor to speak.

Over time, I've found Buttigieg to be a little weasel.  He tries to hide it, but his cutoff of Yang, to use his time for his whiny virtue signaling was rather off-putting.

[ProudModerate2]

I have elderly parents, and their memory is not all there like it used to be.
This in normal in most older adults. It's life.
Even though Castro says it wasn't ... it was absolutely a personal attack on Biden and his age.
F*** Castro. He is a piece of s***.
I'm glad his chances for the nomination are zero, and the general consensus around DC (and in the media) have painted him as the horrible person he is.

[ProudModerate2]

I mean, even Beto O'Rourke noticed it to be a personal attack ...

"Look, if you've got a policy difference with Joe Biden, by all means, let's air it at the debate, but that kind of personal attack I don’t think is what we need right now and is insufficient to the challenges we face"

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Not a fan, but it's hilarious how the establishment is so butthurt that he dared criticize Biden.

[Alben Barkley]

He actually came to a debate to debate.

Sorry, I missed the memo that the debate wasn't a debate but a warm and fuzzy love fest.

Castro apparently didn't come to sing "Kumbaya". How outrageous is that!

I don't have a favorite, but the reaction to Castro's challenge to Biden is insane.
(of course, he didn't mean for it to be "personal")

The big problem with Castro is that he was straight-up wrong in addition to being a massive dick. (A quality generally less appreciated in the Democratic Party than in the GOP these days.) He was literally factually incorrect about what he was saying and accusing Biden of.

Nothing "insane" about saying that if you're going to personally attack someone, you damn well better have your facts straight. He didn't, and rightfully came out looking terrible for it.

Never mind that it's generally considered bad form at best for a "debater" to go for a low blow like that anyway, even if he did have the facts on his side. Which again he didn't. A good debater should stick to attacking ideas rather than the person. If your arguments are good and your opponent's are bad, that will do all the talking for you, so it's completely unnecessary to go after your opponent's personal qualities directly like that. But again, Castro's arguments were terrible and objectively incorrect, and Biden's were sound, so he had nothing left to do but to resort to ad hominem -- a clear sign you've already lost the debate most of the time.

And to make matters worse, it was painfully clear he had planned it all out ahead of time and was going to go for the jugular regardless of whether Biden actually slipped up or not. More than anything, it was a desperate attempt to grasp for relevance and attention by going after the frontrunner, and it backfired. It was certainly not "good debating." And yes, it was most certainly intended to be "personal." If it somehow wasn't (which again, it definitely was), that would actually suggest Castro is an even worse debater and speaker, because it would mean he utterly failed to get his meaning across to the vast majority of his audience.

[morgankingsley]

Would not vote for him, but would not complain too much if he won

[Alben Barkley]

Not a fan, but it's hilarious how the establishment is so butthurt that he dared criticize Biden.

Lots of other people on that stage and in previous debates "dared criticize Biden" but did so without being total dicks about it and while actually making some valid points. "The establishment" wasn't "butthurt" about that. Castro, however, did neither.

But OK, I guess facts, reason, and civility are "establishment" values now. I'm not joking, that seems to be pretty much the narrative ever since Trump won by basically waging a war on all three of those things. Too bad populists on the left are buying into it too.

[RaphaelDLG]

He's kind of a piece of sh**t but relative to many of the others he has good policy proposals

[Intell]

Not a fan, but it's hilarious how the establishment is so butthurt that he dared criticize Biden.

Lots of other people on that stage and in previous debates "dared criticize Biden" but did so without being total dicks about it and while actually making some valid points. "The establishment" wasn't "butthurt" about that. Castro, however, did neither.

But OK, I guess facts, reason, and civility are "establishment" values now. I'm not joking, that seems to be pretty much the narrative ever since Trump won by basically waging a war on all three of those things. Too bad populists on the left are buying into it too.

REASON AND CIVILITY FOLKS, THATS ALL WE NEED AND AMERICA CAN GO BACK TO HOW IT WAS!!! Such beautiful times of the past.

[😥]

HP

[Higgins]

Slimeball punk.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Hooligan is a bad hombre.

[Calthrina950]

HP overall. Castro's political views (particularly on immigration, to say nothing of his bizarre statement about transmen needing abortion rights), are far to the left of mines, and his attack upon Biden at the last debate came across as very petty. However, Castro is probably on the VP list for at least some of the major contenders, and would be a particularly good complement to Warren.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Anyone who holds Joe Biden accountable for his bullsh-t is demonized. He did and said nothing wrong.

I seem to recall Kamala Harris surging to 2nd-3rd place for a while after attacking Biden.

Voted FF, btw.

[Andrew Yang 2024]

Great attack dog for any running mate
Warren/Castro would be a formidable ticket.

[Green Line]

Still not sure why he's running.  His primary role in the race seems to be giving CNN & MSNBC anchors an excuse to virtue signal to their viewers that its pronounced WHOOO-lian Castro.

[Yellowhammer]

Running for President as a dem? Doxxing some of his own donors? HP

[Xing]

While I think his attack on Biden was going too far, I think it's a bit much to judge him on that alone. I also wouldn't go as far "left" as him on immigration, but my #hottake is that his immigration policy is far more reasonable than Trump's.

[Kingpoleon]

Uncouth, nasty goon. Wildly unprofessional as a candidate, and his brother is even worse.

Just because the other guys let a goon take over doesn't mean the path to victory is in consplaying him.

Squeaky clean, Hispanic Mayor? Super professional? And you call him a “goon” and “wildly unprofessional.” This is a race-based attack, plain and simple, based on nothing more than Castro's race making him seem “corrupt.” If this is the best you can do, you might as well call him a “wetback Mexican thug trying to steal the White House.”

Corbyn may or may not be a “Strasserist,” but you’re certainly a racist.