Rand Paul: ‘Dumb’ Focus on Voter ID Could Squander GOP’s ‘Huge Opportunity’ to Win Black Voters

Sen. Rand Paul today said it would be a “dumb idea” for Republicans to focus on voter ID laws because doing so would turn off black voters, whom the GOP has a “huge opportunity” to attract.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Kentucky Republican and likely presidential candidate stressed that he supports requiring identification to vote in elections. But, he said, Republicans should avoid prioritizing the issue.

“It doesn’t mean that I think it’s unreasonable,” Paul said of conservatives’ efforts to tighten voting laws and rules to prevent voter fraud. “I just think it’s a dumb idea for Republicans to emphasize this and say, ‘This is how we are going to win the elections.’ ”

Paul’s remarks to host Chuck Todd recalled similar comments on voter ID laws that he made last spring in an interview with a reporter, drawing sharp criticism from some conservatives.

Today, Paul said Democrats took minority communities for granted in the months before Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections, and Republicans have a “huge opportunity” with black voters.

The GOP will blow the opportunity if it makes voter ID a “big issue,” he said.

“I want more people to vote. I’m for enhancing the vote.”

In remarks in May to the New York Times, Paul warned Republicans not to “go too crazy” on voter ID.

>>> Rand Paul: Wrong for GOP to ‘Go Too Crazy’ on Voter ID

Paul aide Doug Stafford later clarified those remarks to The Daily Signal, saying the senator’s comments came in the context of “a larger discussion about criminal justice reform and restoration of voting rights.”

Paul’s position is that voter ID laws should be decided at the state level, Stafford said.