*This began as “what if” when Castro was mayor of San Antonio; it turned to serious speculation when he moved to be Secreatry of HUD; now that talk of the 2016 presidential run is intensifying, it’s fodder for serious news reports.

Two reports have added a higher, louder pitch to the idea. Today, the Daily Mail, and last August The Wahington Post  added their reporting to the speculation. Of course, this takes a Hillary presidential run as a given. VL

Clinton-Castro 2016: Hillary Clinton said to be grooming Obama official Julian Castro for vice president

By Francesca Chambers, Daily Mail

Hillary Clinton already has a running mate for 2016 in mind, according to several news sources.

Clinton is reportedly eying Incoming Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro for the role of vice president should she run again and is keeping the former San Antonio, Texas, mayor and his twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, ‘very close’ just in case, says the Washington Post.

‘Clearly, if you were putting together a list of five people in the country who could potentially be a contributing running mate, you would have to put Julian Castro on that list,’ Henry Cisneros, former HUD Secretary for Bill Clinton, told WaPo.

The rising Democratic star has long been considered a potential running mate for Clinton or another Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, but until recently he didn’t have the kind of national profile and experience that is generally associated with the nation’s second in command.

That all changed when President Barack Obama nominated him as HUD secretary in May, a position he was confirmed for last month.

Click HERE to read the full story.

The Clintons break bread and build ties with Julian Castro, stoking talk of a 2016 ticket

By Ed O’Keefe and Phillip Rucker, The Washington Post

As she expands her political network in advance of an expected presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband have been cultivating an important ally who some believe could become her vice presidential running mate.

Former president Bill Clinton invited Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and incoming Obama Cabinet secretary, to the Clintons’ home in Washington last week for a private dinner that friends described as a chance for Democratic leaders from different generations to become better acquainted.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Bureau of IIP, Gage Skidmore/Flickr]