How Rand Paul learned to talk to black people

[jct74]

How Rand Paul learned to talk to black people

By Nia-Malika Henderson
Thu April 30, 2015

Rand Paul's intensive effort to redeem himself -- and the Republican Party -- with minorities seemed to be on the verge of cratering.

He joked Tuesday to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that he was happy his train didn't stop in the riot-scarred city of Baltimore. It was exactly the type of tone-deaf remark the Kentucky senator's group of black advisers urged him to avoid as he seeks to expand the GOP's outreach to minorities.

They immediately knew Paul's comment would pose a problem. They checked with other African-Americans to see how it was being perceived.

On Wednesday afternoon, Paul spoke for about an hour with black advisers who told him what they were hearing. The Republican presidential contender told them he understood the concern and expressed regret for his words.

"He said 'OK, I understand what everyone is saying, you're right. I shouldn't have said it that way,'" said Elroy Sailor, a senior adviser and director of strategic planning for Paul. "He recognizes that people listen and hear things differently. Certain words resonate with different constituencies.'"

The episode underscores Paul's complicated history with race. This is the man who openly questioned central tenets of the Civil Rights Act before he later voiced unequivocal support. He's partnered with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker to push for criminal justice reform but also spoke this week of his sympathy for the "plight of the police."

Influence

Perhaps more importantly, Paul's comments -- and his response -- speak to the influence an informal group of black advisers will have as he tries to prove that his eclectic blend of conservative fiscal policies paired with a focus on criminal justice and civil liberties can expand the reach of the Republican Party.

...

read more:
h ttp://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/2016-rand-paul-race-relations/index.html

 

[Ronin Truth]

I'd imagine living and practicing medicine in Kentucky would really help out a bunch, also having been raised by Ron for a Dad.

 

[mit26chell]

What an incredibly dumb, lazy article. Oh, it's from CNN . . .

 

[AlexAmore]

So I guess if you're getting beaten down, doused with gasoline and lit on fire by a rioter and you try to escape...you're racist. However, you're not racist by assuming the rioter in this scenario must be black...because....ah fuck it.

 

[wizardwatson]

What an incredibly dumb, lazy article. Oh, it's from CNN . . .

It's not dumb or lazy at all. It's a pretty sophisticated hit piece.

Take this part they posted quoting him:

"If you look at the war on drugs, 3 out of 4 people in prison are black or brown. White kids are doing it, too. In fact, if you look at all the surveys, white kids do it just as much as black and brown kids," he said to an overwhelmingly older, white crowd. "But the prisons are full of black and brown kids because they don't get a good attorney, they live in poverty; it's easier to arrest them than to go to the suburbs."

You see, when you want to REALLY attack someone you show the things they say that are good and truthful. This isn't to increase Rand's credibility but rather to show the reader that the author of the hit piece is "thorough and fair". It builds trust in the reader that the author is objective.

It's a hit piece. Expect more. Rand is an amateur. Expect him to respond inadequately frequently.

 

[orenbus]

In case anyone was going to check, will save you from clicking on the link.

It's a article in their political section, not labelled from what I can tell as an OP-ED, even though it pretty much is.

 

[jct74]

Rand is an amateur. Expect him to respond inadequately frequently.

I don't think Rand is an amateur. He has a lot of experience dealing first hand with the media, and has turned the tables on them on many occasions. People like me or you who post on the internet and who have never run for office before are the real amateurs I would say.

 

[jct74]

OK, I'll move this thread to media spin. I wanted to post it though because there is some new information contained in the article.

 

[SilentBull]

Right, because one should love being in the middle of a riot. What a racist asshole for not wanting to be there while that's going on.

 

[AlexAmore]

Rand is an amateur. Expect him to respond inadequately frequently.

Then so is every politician including Hillary and Bush. They have way more gaffes.

 

[wizardwatson]

I don't think Rand is an amateur. He has a lot of experience dealing first hand with the media, and has turned the tables on them on many occasions. People like me or you who post on the internet and who have never run for office before are the real amateurs I would say.

I only meant he was new to Washington and playing the game.

But perhaps I'm out of line. He has watched his dad get skewered his whole life so he does have an inside track.

But I am reading some of his stuff and watching some of his speeches and I see the way HE is politicking and I do think it's not quite as slick as some of you think it is.

I don't actually want Rand to be an "expert" in the Washington game. I prefer he goofs up and changes his tactics, but others disagree.

And no, I haven't ran for office but I have worked on other people's campaigns as part of my job from 2004 to 2008 doing research and marketing and having sit downs with candidates to discuss "communication" changes resulting from surveys, etc.

 

[wizardwatson]

Then so is every politician including Hillary and Bush. They have way more gaffes.

gaffes from our perspective and gaffes from the perspective of the average voter are two different things.

 

[HankRicther12]

read more:
h ttp://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/2016-rand-paul-race-relations/index.html

To me this is what you get when you try to pander. I understand the "playing the game" thing to a point, but honestly how much has any of Rands efforts really shaved off of the black vote?

 

[euphemia]

To me this is what you get when you try to pander. I understand the "playing the game" thing to a point, but honestly how much has any of Rands efforts really shaved off of the black vote?

Probably not much at this point, but I think his message can resonate with poor blacks if the media will report the story and not spin it.

 

[jct74]

To me this is what you get when you try to pander. I understand the "playing the game" thing to a point, but honestly how much has any of Rands efforts really shaved off of the black vote?

I hope he keeps "pandering" on criminal justice reform issues, that would be great. Regardless of how many votes it gets him.

 

[HankRicther12]

Probably not much at this point, but I think his message can resonate with poor blacks if the media will report the story and not spin it.

Some might, but what Democrat won't say the exact same thing, and they won't have the media trying to spin everything. I think people have to accept the left has a done a great job of getting people dependent on govt, you can try to reach out but a Dem will outdo you every time, the Dem will say the same thing about drugs, but then throw in some new funding for "this or that".

I honestly think work on the Rep base, people say you can't win with just the base, I agree, but 3 million registered Rep didn't vote last year, I was one of them, but I would vote for Rand if he's on the ballot, but that's just it, he has to GET on the ballot, and I doubt I'm the first one to make this argument but I think it's foolish to put such effort into this when you MIGHT get what .00001% of the black vote, meanwhile, the bulk of the Rep vote has latched onto someone else.

 

[puppetmaster]

It's called common sense and having some intelligence

 

[Crashland]

I don't see this as a hit piece. Yes it has some negative feedback in it, but that's just the reality. Not all black people think his outreach is all peachy, and he hasn't mastered it yet. But Rand is the only one on the Republican side who is even willing to make an effort to engage with the black community at all and I think the article covers it ok.

 

[HankRicther12]

I don't see this as a hit piece. Yes it has some negative feedback in it, but that's just the reality. Not all black people think his outreach is all peachy, and he hasn't mastered it yet. But Rand is the only one on the Republican side who is even willing to make an effort to engage with the black community at all and I think the article covers it ok.

I just think it's a minefield, at any moment you can say something that's going to be "offensive" and the media will turn it into a firestorm. It just seems like a lot of risk for very little potential payoff, I could be wrong, we'll see.

 

[CPUd]

I didn't see it as an attack either. It was certainly critical, but it is something the campaign can take constructively.

If this were 2012 and it was about Mitt Romney, this would be on the front page with a bunch of posts about how fake Mitt is. Then the Mitt chat would be full of people talking conspiracy theories about how the press was working together to push Mitt out.

Someone pointed out in the other thread, Rand did manage to make the move that caused him the least criticism, it could have been a lot worse if he said something in favor of the rioters.