Kim Norvell

knorvell@dmreg.com

DAVENPORT, Ia. — Sen. Rand Paul said he believes to grow the Republican Party and win Iowa the eventual presidential nominee should attract new voters by “showing compassion for people who are down on their luck.”

The Republican presidential hopeful said in Knoxville, Ia., he’s the candidate who can reach out to voters who have left the party behind — or Democrats thinking of doing the same. The biggest problem, he said, is a Republican hasn’t won Iowa in the general election for eight years because the party lacks diversity.

A way to build that base is to attract the youth vote by “being more boldly for what we’re for” but also recognizing that some people “deserve a second chance in life,” Paul said.

“Do we need to be big spending liberals on this? No,” he said. “But I think we need to have compassion for people who are down on their luck and aren’t doing well, whether they’ve gotten in trouble with the law or whether they’re in trouble because of poverty.”

In Davenport later, the Kentucky senator expanded on his position by touting his record on criminal justice reform — a point he hammered in Thursday’s debate by condemning the disproportionate number of black men in prison for non-violent crimes. He has introduced several bills in the U.S. Senate that would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences, expunge records for certain drug crimes and restore federal voting rights, he said.

Paul said the biggest impediment to getting a job is a criminal record, and to keep people off welfare there should be a "second chance" for people who have “changed their ways.” He would also help lift people out of poverty by creating “economic freedom zones” where taxes are lower in certain pockets of poverty, he said.

“We can have a message that’s consistent with what we believe in,” Paul said. “Most of us are Christians and believe in redemption and believe in a second chance. I think the law ought to believe that.”

Pastor Brian Nolder, of Pella, said in Knoxville he appreciates that Paul introduced a personhood amendment that would define life as beginning at conception, but that "the pro-life ethic also needs to reflect in our foreign policy, as well."

"I'm not a pacifist, Senator Paul is not a pacifist,” he said. “But we do need to be really concerned about the way that we go about defending our nation and that we not entangle ourselves in foreign affairs unjustly in a way that's potentially taking innocent life and costing us a lot of money and a lot of blood."

At the events

Setting: The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville and the Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport.

Crowd: About 50 in Knoxville and more than 150 in Davenport.

Reaction: Both crowds applauded several times, but in Davenport he elicited verbal shouts of agreement on several points, including his desire to re-evaluate the war on drugs and when explaining his 14.5 percent flat tax plan. “I want the government to have less money and you to have more money,” he said.

What’s next: Paul has a busy schedule through caucus night. Check DesMoinesRegister.com for more details.