Julián Castro Vows Campaign Will Gain Traction as He Steps Up Criticism of Donald Trump

Julián Castro said Thursday that he expects his campaign to pick up enough steam to propel him to the stage for next month's Democratic Party presidential debate in Houston."My focus for the next 12 days is making sure we get into the September debate," Castro told The Dallas Morning News before a campaign stop in South Dallas. "Once we get into the September debate we're going to have a smaller field and I'll be helped by that."Though he's hauled in enough money to qualify for the third Democratic debate at Texas Southern University, Castro's polling numbers have consistently been around one percent, which falls short of the requirement mandated by the party for inclusion in the forum.Castro is the only Hispanic candidate in the contest and performed well in the first two debates. Still, his campaign hasn't gotten significant traction.But the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Barack Obama said he would rise in the polls as candidates started to drop from the race."As we're getting ready to go into the fall, the number of candidates in this race is going down," Castro said. "That offers an opportunity to offer my strong positive vision to the voters out there, in the early states especially."  Continue reading...