Are there any potential Black or Latino candidates for POTUS who are Democrats?

[oberliner]

The lists that I've seen in various places seem to be exclusively of white people, mostly men.

Occasionally some of these lists include a few women as well (in addition to HRC), such as here:

http://ballotpedia.org/Possible_presidential_candidates,_2016

Is there someone that folks have heard discussed as a potential candidate who is Black or Latino (and is a Democrat)?

Do you think it is at all problematic if all of our candidates are white and the Republican group is more diverse?

Is it OK to even ask these question and reflect on this a bit?

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. Great question. Good luck.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Well, as those of us on the left were told for months until Bernie tossed his hat in the ring

it's up to individuals to put themselves in the race. Now admittedly, that was in response to the 'Draft Warren' campaign, but it stands. You can't just sign somebody else up, they have to sign up themselves.

As far as people just tossing names around, I've heard anything from Michelle Obama to Barbara Lee to the Castro brothers (who might be too young still), as well as others who escape me at just this moment.

[bklyncowgirl]

3. I also think it's a shame that we don't have more candidates to choose from.

Though to be honest, I can't think of a viable Black or Latino candidate who has a shown the slightest interest in running. There's former governors like Deval Patrick or Bill Richardson and a few others who are qualified but none of those guys have stepped up.

I'm also concerned about the age of the two announced Democratic candidates. I guess the fact that both Clinton and Sanders are eligible for Social Security could mean that they would fight to preserve it but that's not a guarantee. O'Malley of course is younger but I'm not seeing him gaining much of a following. This is very much a geritol primary.

Democrats, unfortunately, have not been nourishing their farm team. The establishment is all in for Hillary, the netroots for Bernie. We have some good, ethnically diverse younger politicians but no national figures.

I suppose the only thing we can feel good about is that I have a better chance of becoming the GOP candidate than Ben Carson or Bobby Jindal. Rubio and Cruz are more serious candidates--but I still don't see it happening.

[oberliner]

11. Agreed

I really enjoy when there are a lot of candidates running. It's a great way to get a variety of different voices heard from across the party.

[romanic]

4. Its up to the person

to enter the race. To shoe-horn a black or Latino politician into the race for the sake of looking diverse is "problematic" (fuck i hate that word)

[oberliner]

8. Agreed

Not suggesting any "shoe-horning" just surprised that there don't appear to be more such politicians in the running, so to speak.

[rocktivity]

5. Obama wasn't potentially black enough for you?

rocktivity

[oberliner]

9. What do you mean by that?

I don't see how his being President is related to the lack of diversity among the current group of potential candidates.

[sufrommich]

6. I don't think there's going to be a big democratic field

this time around. I think we're seeing evidence of that right now. I do think both Cory Booker and Julian Castro are most likely future presidential candidates,I would throw in Amy Klobuchar too.

[woolldog]

12. Yes. All those are good future candidates

but they need more seasoning. They're not ready right now.

[oberliner]

13. Why do you think the field is so small?

Usually when there is no incumbent things are pretty wide open. Or so it seems.

[sufrommich]

15. I think a lot of potential candidates think Hillary

will win the primaries this time around.

[Bradical79]

18. Clinton is my guess

Seems like there was a feeling of Clinton being automatically written in as the next president, and Bernie represents the non-corporate "lefty" side of the Democratic coin as well as anyone. Maybe most are content to let them slug it out this go round while they build their resumes?

[cali]

20. please tell me you're kidding

[oberliner]

22. I'm not

Are you saying it's obviously because of HRC?

She was considered a heavy frontrunner in 2008 but there was still a healthy group vying for the nomination.

[FSogol]

7. At least our candidates are concerned with issues affecting minorities. The same cannot be said for

the clowns on the right.

[oberliner]

10. That's a good point

We certainly have candidates who are addressing those issues.

[jwirr]

14. I don't know but I can tell you this: After the way that President Obama has been treated by the Rs

I cannot think why they would want to be president.

[oberliner]

24. The R's have been pretty vicious to Hillary over the years

Yet she is still very much throwing her hat in the ring.

[jwirr]

25. Agree. She has been through this before herself. And I do not think if elected that she will escape

this.

[KamaAina]

16. Julian Castro

although probably not this cycle. He has, however, been talked up as HRC's VP pick.

[oberliner]

19. I'll have to read up

Don't know too much about him.

[KamaAina]

21. Former mayor of San Antonio

presently secretary of HUD.

[JI7]

17. we would see more if Hillary was not in the race

[misterhighwasted]

23. No. We will see more in the future because she is in the race.

It is Hillary Clinton as President 2016 who will open more doors for minorities & women & LGBT.
Starting with her best choice for VP, Julian Castro.
As she opens the door to his VP position, she also opens the door for his Presidential run when she retires.

She generously will use her very long coattails to see that the future of American politics & the Supreme Court is an unreachable goal for the Right Wing.

That is her legacy.

^H^R^C

Madam President 2016

[mythology]

26. I think they meant in this particular primary season

In the long term, yes it's good to have qualified candidates that are of minority groups, but I think that to a large degree, Hillary Clinton's expected run pushed out a lot of potential candidates for this cycle as it will be very hard to compete with her monetarily and getting off the ground. In 2008, we had Hillary Clinton running, but Bush the younger was so unpopular that I think it compelled a lot of Democrats to run given that it was likely to be a Democratic election unless the nominee was doing something really stupid. Edwards ran even though he couldn't keep it in his pants while his wife had freaking cancer, which to me says that he thought if he won the nomination, he would win the election (assuming he's not an absolute moron).

There's also the fact that we are at the end of a two term Democratic administration. That also limits the people running I would think (although not for Republicans in 2008). Anybody running for President has a certain amount of ego and it's rare that the same party holds the presidency for four consecutive terms. So if they are younger, it might pay to wait until 2020 or 2024 on the assumption that if a Republican wins, they would be a one term president. In 2000, really only Al Gore and Bill Bradley ran, but in 2004 and 2008 Democrats had a lot of people running.

[erpowers]

27. Window Dressing

I do not think it is a big deal when the minority Republican Presidential candidates are mainly window dressing. How many of the minorities running for the Republican Presidential nomination actually have a chance of winning the nomination? When President Obama was running for the Democratic Nomination he was seen having no chance only because he was running against a woman who seemed to be the inevitable nominee.

With the current field of Republican candidates Ben Carson has no real chance to win the nomination. Not because any of the other candidates are seen to be so inevitable, but because there is just not enough support for him in his party. Things are similar with Carly Fiornia. I think it has already been stated that Fiornia is in the race as a way for the Republican Party to attack Hillary Clinton without being called sexist. However, Fiornia is seen as having no real chance of winning the Republican Presidential nomination.

Furthermore, the leading candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination is a woman (Hillary Clinton). One of the Castro brothers from Texas has been mentioned as a Vice Presidential candidate and a future Presidential candidate. Once again the Castro brothers are seen as having real chances of getting the Democratic Presidential nomination in the future. Marco Rubio is seen as a Republican contender.

I do not think the current makeup of the 2016 election is a problem for Democrats when the Democratic Party has already presented a black man as its candidate twice and now has a woman as its front runner. The Republicans still mainly have white men as their front runners.

[oberliner]

28. I could see Rubio getting the nomination

I would say he is the number two frontrunner behind Bush III.