Sarah Palin had more responsibility as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
Via The DC
President Barack Obama will nominate an inexperienced Hispanic politician to a major cabinet post Friday, marking another effort to boost his sagging support among Latino voters.
He’ll use a White House ceremony at 3:35 pm to nominate Julian Castro, the largely-symbolic mayor of San Antonio in Texas, as the new head of federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
San Antonio is run by a city manager, who is picked by the city council. As the symbolic mayor, Castro is paid just $4,000 a year, or just over 1 percent of the $335,000 paid the city manager.
In contrast, HUD has an annual budget of roughly $47 billion. HUD’s budget and operations has to be diligently managed because it cash flows to many scandal-prone cities and towns, property developers and activist groups.
During the nomination process, Castro’s career as a personal-injury lawyer in Texas is likely to be probed by media outlets and Republican politicians for potential scandals.
But Democrats are determined to promote Castro as a potential Latino leader in the Democratic Party, which has few Latinos in senior leadership outside the 25-member Hispanic Caucus in Congress.
In contrast, the list of Latino GOP politicians include two governors — Susana Martinez in New Mexico and Brian Sandoval in Nevada — plus additional cabinet members and and legislators, such as Sen. Ted Cruz.