Paul Says G.O.P. Push on Voting Laws Is Alienating Blacks.

[elleng]

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky on Friday broke with fellow Republicans who have pushed for stricter voting laws as a way to crack down on fraud, saying the party was alienating and insulting African-Americans.

“Everybody’s gone completely crazy on this voter ID thing,” Mr. Paul said in an interview on Friday, adding that much of the bitterness in the debate over voting rights was wrapped up in race. “I think it’s wrong for Republicans to go too crazy on this issue because it’s offending people.”

Mr. Paul traveled to Memphis — a mostly black city and a Democratic stronghold with its own painful racial history — to speak at the spring meeting of the Republican National Committee. But before he talked to his fellow Republicans, he sat down with a group of black pastors to discuss his views on voting, public education and antipoverty policy.

It was the latest leg of Mr. Paul’s cross-country tour through places like Chicago and Detroit where it might not seem obvious for a conservative Republican to stop and ask for an audience.

Mr. Paul’s remarks seemed certain to stir concern among Republicans over whether the senator, a libertarian-minded ophthalmologist who entered public office only three years ago, is the kind of presidential candidate who can appeal to the conservative voters who have so much influence in selecting the nominee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/us/politics/paul-says-gop-push-on-voting-laws-is-alienating-blacks.html?hp

[arcane1]

1. Wow, it's only been three years??? It feels like forever.

[Gothmog]

2. The GOP is trying to steal the votes of minorities

Voter id laws serve no purpose other than to steal votes

[pangaia]

3. "“I think it’s wrong for Republicans to go too crazy on this issue because it’s offending people.”

That's all he can say, "..it's OFFENDING people?"
Somebody should cut out this man's tongue. Isn't that what the bible sort of says?

[sendero]

4. Not...

... "it might be an injustice" but "it's offending people". Sorta like a non-apology apology along the lines of "I'm sorry if my comments offended anyone".

[Wounded Bear]

5. Paul continues to "re-brand" himself...

I'm not buying it. He's the king of "say what your listeners want to hear" politics.

You can try and throw a blanket on him, but this leapord still has some nasty spots under it.

[savalez]

6. Alienating Blacks is Alienating Blacks.

[Gothmog]

7. Rand Paul is not denouncing these voter suppression laws

Rand Paul is a goofball and his statement on Friday is meaningless. Paul is pandering to the African American audience but Paul did not denounces these laws. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-voter-id-offending

According to the Times, despite Paul's comments Friday, he did not "denounce voter ID laws as bad policy or take back previous statements in which he had said it was not unreasonable for voters to be required to show identification at the polls. He says these laws should be left to the states." Last month, during a sit-down interview with former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, Paul said he thought Republicans may have "over-emphasized" the issue of voter fraud.

If Paul really denounced these laws, he would have no chance of being the GOP nominee

[Jamaal510]

8. At least if

"If Paul really denounced these laws, he would have no chance of being the GOP nominee"

he were to, then he'd be sticking to his principles about following the Constitution and freedom. However, that's a no-no for him in this case.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. Neither Rand Paul nor his racist father give a flying fuck about black people!!

Whoever falls for this bullshit are fucking idiots!