Since 2011

Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief

wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com ● wakeuptopolitics.com ● @WakeUp2Politics

THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro delivers the keynote address at the

2012 Democratic National Convention, where he first won national

attention.

White House Watch

Reports: Hispanic

Rising Star Julián

Castro to Be

Nominated for HUD

Reports abounded

Saturday of San

Antonio Mayor Julián

Castro’s rumored

appointment to be U.S.

Secretary of Housing

and Urban

Development.

Multiple news sources

say President Obama is

preparing to nominate

Castro to the post, in a

Cabinet shuffle that

would give renewed national

attention to one of his party’s rising stars.

At the age of 39, Castro is already seen as a potential vice president

candidate for the Democrats in 2016. His first brush with fame came in

2012, when Obama tapped him for the keynote slot at the Democratic

National Convention. The Texan’s twin brother Joaquin is a U.S.

Congressman.

Castro will succeed Shaun Donovan at HUD. Donovan, who has served in

the Obama Cabinet since its beginning, will move to the Cabinet-level

position of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director. The

President has already nominated current OMB director to the helm of the

Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, where the present secretary,

Kathleen Sebelius, is stepping down.

This will be the second time the President has attempted to add the San

Antonio mayor to his Cabinet, originally offering the post of Transportation

Secretary to Castro in 2012. Some say HUD may be more attractive to

Castro as Democrats frame income inequality as a large part of their

midterm message. Castro’s Mexican-born mother also once worked at the

San Antonio Housing Authority, furthering the appeal of the job for him.

This shuffle will give national stature to a top Hispanic rising star, in a

Democratic Party setting their hopes on Hispanics supporting them at the

polls – especially in face of large Republican opposition to immigration

reform – but is outpaced by the GOP when it comes to Latino officeholders.

Castro could become the Democratic Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, and the

HUD post is widely seen as setting up the mayor for a spot on the

Democratic ticket in 2016.

The President’s Schedule At 12:30 PM, President Obama will have lunch

with Combatant Commanders, four-star generals or admirals who lead

Unified Combatant Commands (UCC), a top Pentagon command. The lunch

meeting will take place in the Roosevelt Rooom of the White House.

At 7:30 PM, Obama will head out of Washington, D.C (but still inside the

Beltway) to Potomac, Maryland for Democratic Congressional Campaign

Committee (DCCC) dinner. The fundraiser will be held at the home of two

top Democratic bundlers, and will also include House Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Reps. Chris Van Hollen, ranking member of the

House Budget Committee, and Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), chair of the DCCC

and charged with electing Democrats to the House.

Today In...

1795 A founding father with

a key role in the Declaration

of Independence, New

Hampshire signer Josiah

Bartlett, best known as the

namesake of the character

on The West Wing, dies at

age 65.

Bartlett was one of the first

colonists to speak up and

support independence from

Great Britain, and since the

Continental Congress went

in geographic order from

north to south for roll ca ll votes, he was the first vote for independence, and

the first signer of the Declaration (after the Congress’ president, John

Hancock).

Bartlet would later serve as chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme

Court, help ratify the U.S. Constitution in his state, and after declining a U.S.

Senate appointment, became Governor of New Hampshire. The signer also

practiced medicine for 45 years, founding the New Hampshire Medical

Society in 1790 (which still operates today). He is perhaps best known,

however, for his fictional title as great-great-great-great grandfather of

Josiah Edward “Jed” Bartlet, President of The West Wing (and of my heart).

1864 In a letter to Sen. Charles Sumner, the Massachusetts abolitionist,

proposing that soldiers’ widows and children of both races should be treated

equally.

1992 The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting Congress

from giving itself a raise in the middle of a term, goes into effect.

1994 31 years after her husband was slain by an assassin’s bullet, former

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies in New York City at the age of

64.

Happy Birthday To...

Jim Lehrer The former anchor of PBS News Hour turns 80 years old today.

Lehrer is also the most experienced moderator in presidential debate history,

having moderated 12 presidential election debates.

Question of the Day

Today’s Question In the spring of 1945, delegates from 50 countries around

the world met in San Francisco to draft and sign the United Nations Charter.

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was set to have opened the

conference, but had died on April 12, shortly before its beginning.

On May 19, 1945, the delegates gathered at Muir Woods National

Monument near San Francisco to pay tribute to the late President. A plaque

was placed amongst the tall redwoods in FDR's honor. Here is a picture of

the plaque, dedicated 69 years ago today:

The inscription on the plaque reads:

o “Here in this grove of enduring redwood, preserved for prosperity,

members of the United Nations Conference on International

Organization, met on May 19, 1945, to honor the memory of Franklin

Delano Roosevelt, Thirty-First President of the United States, chief

architect of the United Nations and apostle of lasting peace for all

mankind”.

Today’s question: What is wrong (factually) with the plaque?