Maria Garcia believes it's important that the local Latino community gets to know all the facts leading to the upcoming presidential election, even if she is sure about voting for Barack Obama.
Garcia hosted a Democratic National Convention viewing party Tuesday as part of the Obama campaign and the Latinos for Obama group. She decided to volunteer for his campaign this year and wants to reach out to the diverse population of Marshalltown.
There were visitors from all types of ethnic groups at the event, including Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown.
Article Photos
T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW POTTER
A group of Barack Obama supporters watches the speech by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention at the home of Martha and Moises Garcia in Marshalltown.
"We wanted to get everybody here of all types so we can get to know our different views," Garcia said.
It was an historic night for the Hispanic population as San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro gave the keynote address. He is the first Latino ever to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
"It kind of shows the Latino community that they are important," Garcia said. "It's very historical for me as a Latino."
Fact Box
DNC keynoter Castro follows mother's path
By BETH FOUHY
The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is a rising star in the Democrats' firmament with a collection of mostly favorable media profiles, a landslide re-election last year and speculation about whether he'll become the governor of Texas or even the country's first Hispanic president.
Now the 37-year-old twin has a chance to shine in prime time Tuesday as the first Latino to deliver the keynote address at his party's national convention.
What hints Julian Castro has dropped about his speech suggest a script heavy on a defense of President Barack Obama's record along with a telling of the story of how he and his identical twin brother, Joaquin, grew up, raised by a single mother. Joaquin, a Texas state legislator now representing San Antonio and poised to win election to Congress in November, will introduce his brother at the convention opener Tuesday night.
"My family's story isn't special. What's special is the America that makes our story possible," Julian Castro was set to say, according to excerpts of his speech released Tuesday. "Ours 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 come from, the path is always forward."
Castro also criticized the economic policies of Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
"We all understand that freedom isn't free. What Romney and Ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it," Castro was to say.
Some would say the mayor has had a swift and charmed ascent. But his mother, whose own political activism on behalf of Hispanics when her boys were young drew hate mail and, she says, the attention of the Justice Department, knows her sons' rise is evidence of Hispanics' growing and long overdue political power.
"They called us militant, but our way of doing things was through political ends," Rosie Castro said of her fight for Mexican-American rights in the 1970s. "Not through guns, not through overthrowing the government, but through the political process."
Castro's speech went over well in the Garcia home and even had some already thinking he would be a good presidential candidate for 2016. Castro said Mitt Romney doesn't know how good he's had it and referenced Romney's recent quote to people to borrow money from your parents.
"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Castro said to big laughs in the living room of the Garcia home.
Smith was an early supporter of Obama, backing him in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. He said the president inherited the country in difficult times and is moving it forward.
Smith met with Obama during his recent visit to Marshalltown.
"We talked about the election and getting out the vote," Smith said.
He said Marshalltown can expect more major politicians and people with name recognition to visit in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 6 election.