Neo Aristotelian: Julian Castro

The 2012 Democratic National Convention made history: literally. Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, became the first Hispanic to be presented with the honor of being the ceremonies Keynote Speaker. While America heard from Latinos such as Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez, and Luis Fortuno during the Republican Convention, Castro was the individual selected to captivate the audience in Charlotte, North Carolina.

                         The primary responsibility of a Keynote Speaker at any gathering carries a significant importance: to lay the framework in relations to a core belief. As Castro stood before America to encourage the re-election of our President Barack Obama, the possibility of uncertainty came to be revealed. Who is this individual? And more importantly, what credentials does he hold?

                         Prior to the Democratic National Convention, Castro was being compared to a particular individual who was the Keynote Speaker at this event in 2004. This comparison set the level of expectation to a high degree since he appeared as a seemingly unidentifiable individual to anyone outside of the political sphere. Lack of awareness, although a barrier of the rhetoric, would also serve as a positive impact for the Democrats.

                         Choosing Castro as the speaker for this year’s convention was a pivotal decision. Not only did the liberals present a glimpse of what future Democratic leaders look like, they also attempted to engage attention of a group of voters who could play a decisive role in this years elections with the Hispanic community. The population of Latino’s has increased almost 45% since 2000 and this number is steadily rising. In addition, there are 50.5 million Latinos in the United States (out of 308.7 million people). Of this number, 67% of Latino’s who voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election along with 68% of registered Latino voters surveyed in 2011, said they would support President Obama over Mitt Romney in this years Presidential election.  Currently, Obama is favored nationwide to his counterpart Mitt Romney 50% to 43% (Obama holds lead, 2012). The margin between the two candidates may be minute, but the above calculations assure that the Hispanic vote will be crucial when election day comes about (Roberts,2012). Although an unfamiliar face to a vast audience, Castro’s rhetoric served to entice individuals of the same ethnicity and at the least make the attentive to the current election.

                         If a viewer of the 2012 Democratic National Convention was intrigued by Julian Castro’s speech and attempted to research his accreditation, they would discover that He is no stranger to achievements. He is an individual with high intelligence who attended law school at Harvard and Stanford, but also a man of good character who was raised by a single mother in Texas. Castro’s past not only serves as a testament to who he is, but also to what he believes.

                         Julian Castro is the mayor of a smaller metropolitan area known as San Antonio, Texas. Although San Antonio population does not have the numbers as others cities in its class, they do have the success. The Milken institute ranked San Antonio as on of the nations top performing economies in 2011 ( Mayor Castro, 2011). Likewise, the San Antonito region has added 34,200 since July 2009 (INSERT SOURCE HERE). This will prove as an advantage for the keynote speaker on account that the topic of this rhetoric is the idealization of the “American Dream” and creating a strong foundation through educational decisions. Although lack of awareness of this individual and his prior accomplishments once served as an obstacle, the Keynote Speaker swiftly presented evidence as to why the middle-class voter can relate to him.

                As stated previously, to be an effective rhetoric the keynote speech should successfully appeal to the viewer. Along with this aspect, the speech must be centralized on a particular goal that persuades and motivates listeners with immense passion. The subject of Julian Castro’s rhetoric focused on the “American Dream”.

                         “Our’s is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation no matter who you are or where you are from, the path is always forward.” (Castro,2012). Castro went on to captivate the Hispanic audience, along with the middle-class society by presenting a personal narrative of his family and the successful portrayal of their “American Dream”.  He stated, “My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other peoples houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.” (Castro,2012).

                         This narrative makes the “American Dream” seem tangible for our nation and particularly, people from a underprivileged background. Linking his personal background to factual evidence, Castro reminds the audience of how President Obama made a significant investment to raise our public schools funding and expand Pell grants so that college would be an option for more individuals (Castro,2012). For the 2007-08 academic year, the maximum award for Pell Grants was $4,310.00. Four years later, the maximum reward has been raised to $5,975.00. Pell Grant scholarships help more than 8 million Americans a year afford college and The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants (Pell Grants,2012). Castro stated that the increase in these numbers show a successful plan is in full effect for Americans to pursue whatever it is they set their minds to. Also, to reinforce the belief he has in the importance of education in creating one’s own “American Dream”, Castro has his own list of educational resource establishments to prove how crucial a strong academic foundation can be.

                        The mayor has created opportunities for the patrons of San Antonio by founding Café College. This is a free program that offers, “guidance, advice and workshops to prepare students and parents for their future” (Café College,2011). He also created “Student Aid Saturdays” and strived for young children to have the option to enroll in Pre-K. To boost the Democratic party views and results just a bit more, Castro reminds us all of the comments made by Republican candidate, Mitt Romney. Romney suggested to college students, that if they wanted to start a business, they should just ask their parents for a loan (Mitt Romney,2012). The audience tuning in to Castro’s speech would have found Romney’s idea to be comical and unrealistic to say the least. Thus, reinforcing the  “American Dream” and “Vote for Obama” framework he had initially established. “Now we need to make a choice...a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay less, or a country where everybody pays their fair share, so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. It's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts Pell Grants, or a nation that invests more in education. It's a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas, or a leader who brings jobs back home...this is the choice before us … Our choice is a man who has always chosen us. A man who already is our president, Barack Obama”

                         To reiterate his enthusiasm for the “American Dream” not only in an educational sense, but in general employment as well, Castro went on further to discuss the improvements President Obama has made to the current economy. He explains how President Obama saved the Detroit Auto industry. Today, total employment for carmakers and parts suppliers is up about 250,000 from 2009. In 2011, sales rose 10 percent for GM, 13% for Ford and 14% for Chrysler. (Greenberg, 2012). In an economy where a job is more of a luxury, than a reality, numbers like this have an immediate impact on voters and society as a whole. Castro continues on by stating the auto industry is not the only area to have successful job placement. Since 2010, the unemployment rate has decreased from 9.6% to 9.1% (Employment Situation,2012). The successful facts given by Julio Castro adds more credibility that Democrats truly believe in the average American and any one person with a goal can achieve it by voting for them. Castro’s use of combining ethos and pathos created the ability for a stronger connection with the implied audience.

             Not only the facts are a key component of this successful rhetoric, but Castro’s use of reptitivness with a tagline with ensure an uplifting reminder of what the speech represented. Throughout the context, the phrase, “Our investment in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow” (Castro,2012)