Can Rand Paul sell black voters on the Republican Party?

Paul's speech at Howard University wasn't warmly embraced, but every journey begins with a first step

Paul hit some trouble when he talked about the Civil Rights Act.
(Image credit: AP Photo)

On Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke at the historically black Howard University, in the latest Republican attempt to repair the party's once-strong relationship with African-Americans. Nobody is arguing that Rand's performance was spotless — many reviewers trotted out the word "awkward" — but as BuzzFeed's Rosie Gray puts it, the students "didn't totally hate" Paul.

Rand wasn't at Howard to find love, though. As an early frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he needs to do better with black voters than Mitt Romney did — Romney "lost an astounding 93 percent of the black vote" in 2012 — if he "hopes to challenge whoever the Democrats nominate," say Jake Tapper, Jason Seher, and Jessica Metzger at CNN. The Howard speech "marks the start of Paul's effort to distinguish himself from his fellow Republicans — and his own father's legacy."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.