Xavier Becerra makes a lot of TV appearances so the next few weeks are not going to be easy for him unless reporters get tired of asking about the Vice Presidential vetting process, which they never will.
Like Hillary, he doesn’t flatly reject the question when he’s asked. Here is what Hillary said Thursday:
Jose Diaz Balart: Secretary, the NBC political team has put out a list of what they think are the top contenders for your Vice Presidential candidate. Among them Xavier Becerra, Congressman of California, what do you think of him?
Hillary Clinton: Oh, he’s a great friend and he’s been an excellent member of Congress serving his constituents in just a terrific way. I’m not going to comment on the Vice Presidential effort because obviously that is something we are getting under way and looking at a number of highly qualified people but Xavier Becerra is a particular friend and colleague of mine.
Jose Diaz Balart: Fair to say he’d be someone you’re looking at? Fair to say he’s someone you’d be looking at?
Hillary Clinton: He is someone who I think could do any job in America. Let me put it that way.
That quote is from an interview for Telemundo where Jose Diaz Balart would not let the question go.
UPDATE: For completeness I’ve transcribed and added Jose’s questions to the transcript above, too.
Congressman Becerra’s colleagues in the House expressed similar views Wednesday. From Roll Call:
Rep. Xavier Becerra said Wednesday that he has "no knowledge" of being vetted for vice president, but his colleagues say they expect he'll be among Hillary Clinton's top choices for the Democratic ticket.
"If he’s not being vetted, I hope he will be," Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said, calling the Californian a "stand up kind of guy."
...Crowley told reporters after the meeting that Becerra possesses a lot of the talent that goes into being a good vice president.
"I’m sure he’s going to be vetted. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s chosen," Crowley said.
Becerra was on MSNBC at least twice Thursday and Andrea Mitchell Reports posted two clips online:
Notice the helpful slow motion replays of Clinton hugging Becerra. What next, body linguists, too?
Becerra also spoke to the National Association of Latino Elected or Appointed Officials group in DC. No video is available yet but I’ll add it to this post if I find it. Clinton did not address the gathering, although she confirmed she will attend the much larger LULAC conference that takes place in July.
He also spoke during the House Sit In that night, before turning around to speak at NALEO at 11am.
UPDATE2: Here are two relevant tweets sent out recently by Becerra or his staff:
From the AP article mentioned above:
Campaigning door-to-door in the heavily Latino neighborhoods of south Omaha, Nebraska, first-time legislative candidate Tony Vargas has talked with numerous people afraid to participate in democracy. Some felt shunned or confused when they once attempted to vote. Others have misconceptions about the legal requirements to do so. Some simply believe their vote doesn't matter.
"You can hear the fear in people's voices, and you can hear that they feel like less of a member of society, less of an American," says Vargas, whose parents came to the U.S. from Peru….
Low voter involvement can make it harder to recruit minority candidates, and less likely for minority communities to be targeted by campaigns.
"It becomes sort of self-fulfilling — they're not likely voters, so you don't talk to them, and because you don't talk to them, they don't become likely voters," says political consultant Roger Salazar, whose clients include California's legislative Latino caucus.