Posted on 05/14/2014 6:59:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sean Hannity had Rand Paul on his radio show today to ask him about the NY Times article where it was reported that he said “I think it’s wrong for Republicans to go crazy on this issue because it’s offending people.” In short, Paul explained that while both sides have over-emphasized this issue, his point had nothing to do with the reality of the law, but the perception of the law.
Paul argues there are a group of voters we need to court who have the wrong perception of voter-ID and because of that, we need to be careful not to over-emphasize voter-ID because it will turn off those voters. In reality he has no problem with the law, he just feels like we should talk about other issues that will help draw in those voters instead of pushing them away by talking about voter-ID.
Listen to the interview below. I’ve transcribed a relevant portion of it below as well:
PAUL: No I agree, there’s nothing wrong with it. To see Eric Holder you’ve got to show your drivers license to get in the building. So I don’t really object to having some rules for how we vote. I show my drivers license every time I vote in Kentucky…and I don’t feel like it is a great burden. So it’s funny that it got reported that way.
But I do mean what I said, that Republicans need to be aware that there is a group of voters that I’m trying to court and that we should be trying to court who do see it as something directed towards them. So that’s why what I’ve been trying to emphasize is not voter-ID, but trying to emphasize that I would like to give people back the right to vote if they committed a youthful non-violent crime and have served their time. I think you do get a second chance in life. I believe in redemption as a Christian. And I think also the law should allow people who committed youthful crimes to get their voting rights back.
HANNITY: Why are people so offended by this? Anybody offended by the idea that they have to present an identification to show that they are who they say they are… Why is that so offensive to people?
PAUL: Like I say, I think both sides have made mistakes in…this issue. But it’s mainly in presentation and perception, not in reality. In the sense that, if Republicans are going to go around the country and this becomes a central theme and issue, you have to realize, rightly or wrongly, it is being perceived by some — and this is the point I was making and I think it’s still a valid point, that I’m trying to go out and say to African Americans ‘I want your vote and the Republican Party wants your vote’. If they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that showing their ID is an attempt to get them not to vote because they perceive it in the lineage of a time when it truly did happen through poll taxes and questioning to try and prevent people, if they perceive it that way, we have to be aware that the perception is out there and be careful about not so overdoing something that we further alienate a block of people we need to attract.
You are soooooo wrong. Rand Paul says just what he believes, but you have to LISTEN. Pander Bear? (LOL. Haven’t heard that in awhile.) but, YES. That is how you get elected, by getting more votes than the other guys. Call it pandering or smart politics who cares.
Rand Paul is only saying that this minor issue is important to a segment of voters that he is trying to attract to the GOP.
And then the lazy comparison to his dad. He is his own man, he is not his father, but he will get the votes of his father’s past supporters. (no small thing). It’s called a “coalition”.
One of the disturbing parts about what Paul said and is now saying is that he fails to recognize that the negativity that comes from advocating showing an ID to vote comes from the media. The media twists this issue into “modern day Jim Crow.” No matter what Republicans emphasize, the media will twist it. And he is a useful idiot for criticizing the GOP on this — he plays right into the trap.
Isn’t the idea is that we WANT to turn off voters - like fake voters.
“Rand Paul is only saying that this minor issue is important to a segment of voters that he is trying to attract to the GOP”
Absolutely. Exactly what Boehner is saying, Cantor is imploring and the GOPe is trying to sell. Walk it back Rand, walk it back.
And when it comes to open borders and foreign policy, Rand is every bit his fruitcake father.
Too late. He’s revealed his true colors.
geeez, this guy... tells *everybody* what he thinks they want to hear.
Paul believes that interest groups that harbor irrational fears based on previous success in seeking victim status need to be courted. No thanks.
And Hannity isn’t smart enough to counter with a simple question: what is wrong with requiring voter ID and combining it with provisional ballots? The percentage of elections where provisional ballots would need to be counted to decide the winner is tiny - and, thus, the cost would be insignificant.
“The Back-Pedal” by Rand Paul
No voter-ID no voting photo must be included but the democrats hate voter-ID because it would cause an honest election it’s something they have never done JFK winks.
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