Politico: Kentucky black leaders v. Rand Paul

[NACBA]

Did outreach begin only after his presidential prospects bloomed?

Over the past year-and-a-half, Sen. Rand Paul has spoken at historically black colleges, gathered with African American leaders in Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting of Michael Brown, and criticized a justice system he says unfairly targets minorities. His message is unmistakable: I’m a different kind of Republican who’s not afraid to engage with communities that typically vote for Democrats.

Yet in 2010, when he was a long-shot tea party candidate for Senate, and during his first two years in the job, Paul was rarely seen or heard from in Kentucky’s African American community, according to interviews with more than a dozen black leaders in the Bluegrass State, including seven of the eight African American state legislators. Indeed, his much-publicized courtship has occurred almost entirely as the Republican began plotting a potential run for president.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/rand-pauls-selective-engagement-113339.html#ixzz3Kw0Id4OG

 

[jmdrake]

Yeah....better late than never. If the "He didn't talk to us soon enough" argument is the best some people can come up with then this isn't a problem.

 

[NACBA]

Yeah....better late than never. If the "He didn't talk to us soon enough" argument is the best some people can come up with then this isn't a problem.

Exactly

 

[CaptUSA]

To be fair, I know he's said this, or variations, many, many times:

"I think in the Republican Party, the biggest mistake we've made in the last several decades is we haven't gone into the African-American community, into the NAACP and say you know what, we are concerned about what's going on in your cities and we have plans. They may be different than the Democrats, but we do have plans and we do want to help."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rand-paul-gops-biggest-mistake-was-not-courting-black-voters/

 

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Paul got something like 32% of the black vote in Kentucky in 2010. Granted, that probably comes out to about 32 votes, but it's still a higher percentage than most Republican U.S. Senators can claim to have received.

 

[NACBA]

Paul got something like 32% of the black vote in Kentucky in 2010. Granted, that probably comes out to about 32 votes, but it's still a higher percentage than most Republican U.S. Senators can claim to have received.

Good point

 

[jct74]

Paul got something like 32% of the black vote in Kentucky in 2010. Granted, that probably comes out to about 32 votes, but it's still a higher percentage than most Republican U.S. Senators can claim to have received.

I thought it was like 13% or something, that doesn't sound right. I know there was a recent presidential poll in Kentucky where he polled that high though.

 

[Vanguard101]

32 percent doesn't sound right

 

[idiom]

The black state representatives are saying they have never heard from him.

These are the guys that could swing a vote to let Rand run at two levels.

Beyond that it would build a more guenuine track record if he had a brunch with these guys or something.

 

[Jamesiv1]

Beyond that it would build a more genuine track record if he had a brunch with these guys or something.

Afternoon tea - and Rand should wear some Rick Perry glasses and a Hillary wig - and pass out a few pair to attendees. Priceless.

the Noze Brotherhood lives on.

 

[Tyreez]

As an African-American myself I got nothing but respect for Rand Paul. Don't care what yall Kentucky "black leaders" say about him, dude's real. He tells it how it is. He's willing to go to the hood and all the other places where Republicans aren't at and tell em what he has to say. These dudes ain't black leaders, they're Dem politicians that want to keep blacks on the welfare plantation.

 

[RandallFan]

32 percent doesn't sound right

That doesn't sound right. Sounds like triple or double the amount any Republican has got since Nixon. I thinking he may have won by 20 points if that was the case. Kentucky registered voters would be 97% white.

 

[juleswin]

Yeah....better late than never. If the "He didn't talk to us soon enough" argument is the best some people can come up with then this isn't a problem.

At some point the partisan spirit of these folks are going to kick in. Remember, a lot of people (even a few people here) are still very partisan. They would kick a gift horse in the mouth if its not wearing the right colors. As they say, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Let they criticize the first step all they want, they would look like fools once the journey really gets going.

 

[philipped]

As an African-American myself I got nothing but respect for Rand Paul. Don't care what yall Kentucky "black leaders" say about him, dude's real. He tells it how it is. He's willing to go to the hood and all the other places where Republicans aren't at and tell em what he has to say. These dudes ain't black leaders, they're Dem politicians that want to keep blacks on the welfare plantation.

WUDDUP BROTHER TYREEZ! Welcome to RPF.

 

[TheTyke]

The black state representatives are saying they have never heard from him.

These are the guys that could swing a vote to let Rand run at two levels.

Beyond that it would build a more guenuine track record if he had a brunch with these guys or something.

Realize in KY they are all Democrats. They will toe the party line and attack Rand or the party will cut their funding and make them pay. But regardless, in KY, it will be a randslide in the general election, and there's nothing these state reps can do to stop it.

 

[Tywysog Cymru]

Paul got something like 32% of the black vote in Kentucky in 2010. Granted, that probably comes out to about 32 votes, but it's still a higher percentage than most Republican U.S. Senators can claim to have received.

For the record, African Americans make up about 8% of the population of Kentucky. They are mostly concentrated in Louisville and the Western part of the state.

 

[RonPaulMall]

That doesn't sound right. Sounds like triple or double the amount any Republican has got since Nixon. I thinking he may have won by 20 points if that was the case. Kentucky registered voters would be 97% white.

I don't think he go that much in his initial run either, but popular Southern Republicans getting 30% of the black vote in the South is not unheard of. Strom Thurmond always got at least 30%. So it isn't inconceivable that Rand will be able to reach 30 or at least 20 percent in his re-election bid. In generic R vs D matchups R's get crushed among blacks but once you are in office and people get to know you that number can improve if you have the right sort of personality.

 

[Tyreez]

WUDDUP BROTHER TYREEZ! Welcome to RPF.

What is up ma brother, thanks fo the welcome man. All this police shit goin on the streets brought me on here. RPF is like the ground zero of cop abuses, ya feel me?

 

[philipped]

What is up ma brother, thanks fo the welcome man. All this police shit goin on the streets brought me on here. RPF is like the ground zero of cop abuses, ya feel me?

Yeah I feel you dude. I heard about this website during Ron Paul2012, I only came on as a guest. Once I saw an article about a Rand Paul 2016 I joined the site and I've been here ever since. We gotta make sure more of us get off of that "liberal plantation" dude. It's not gonna be easy but I'm working on it here in South Florida. I hate using that term to describe it but it somehow fits so I used to go on other forums but as my interest in saving our republic grows I frequent other forums less and less.

 

[Tyreez]

Yeah I feel you dude. I heard about this website during Ron Paul2012, I only came on as a guest. Once I saw an article about a Rand Paul 2016 I joined the site and I've been here ever since. We gotta make sure more of us get off of that "liberal plantation" dude. It's not gonna be easy but I'm working on it here in South Florida. I hate using that term to describe it but it somehow fits so I used to go on other forums but as my interest in saving our republic grows I frequent other forums less and less.

Rand Paul's a stand up dude. He don't give a fuck what any o these racist overseers in both parties be sayin. That felon bill, mandatory minimum bill, freedom zones, education reform...rand's got the ideas to lift our people out of poverty man, he's gonna bring bout real change man, I ain't surprised more and more brothers are supportin him. Hillary don't give a fuck bout black people. She only want us on the plantation so we work her ass off for her while she sell us to China through the Fed.