Would Hillary Clinton lock up the election with a Latino running mate?

Is it Becerra time?

Clinton campaigned with Julian Castro in 2015.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Darren Abate)

Hillary Clinton may be having a hard time picking between all the paths to victory Donald Trump has paved for her. But the most obvious one may lie in Trump's spectacular unpopularity with Latino voters, in some ways the most important subset of the electorate. That's surely part of the reason why Clinton is considering a number of Latinos to serve as her running mate, including HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and, according to a big profile in Tuesday's New York Times, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.).

Becerra, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of Clinton, is one of many politicians who looks like a strong pick, on paper at least. Handsome, smart, and experienced (he's been in Congress for 24 years), Becerra would seem to be a perfectly fine choice. And let's be honest: If Clinton is considering him, his ethnicity has more than a little to do with it. But how much would it matter to Latino voters, and to the eventual outcome of the election?

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.