Kathie Obradovich

kobradov@dmreg.com

Big-tent Republicans who try to run in the Iowa caucuses often get treated like circus animals. They're curiosities that may attract a crowd but are considered too dangerous to unleash lest they devour cherished party principles.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who is laying the groundwork for a potential 2016 presidential campaign, is trying to reach out to minorities and others outside the typical GOP base, including young voters. Reforms of immigration and criminal justice laws are part of the conversation-starters with these traditionally Democratic communities.

Paul will speak Saturday at the Republican state convention, along with two other national Republicans who have appeared on GOP 2016 lists: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The convention comes as establishment and Christian-right elements of the Republican Party are in the process of sidelining members of the liberty movement associated with Paul's father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

I asked the senator in an interview Tuesday whether he's prepared to deal with coalitions of the GOP who want candidates to conform to a fairly rigid definition of who can be a Republican. Paul noted that President Barack Obama won Iowa in the past two general elections.

"If we are to say that the litmus test to winning the Republican nomination in Iowa are X, Y and Z and that those are real rigid guidelines, it's interesting that Iowa in the general election is nowhere near those rigid guidelines," he said.

Republicans need to figure out why that happens. He said he believes Republicans are more receptive to the concept now, after losing two presidential elections in a row, than they might have been in 2012.

"Some would have us dilute our message and become the Democrats-light in order to win. And folks like myself think there's nothing wrong with the message. In fact, it ought to be bolder in some parts, but then it also ought to be or find a way to direct itself to folks who haven't been listening to that message."

He said he doesn't believe the African-American community in Louisville, Ky., where he spoke recently, is avoiding the GOP because it's for tax cuts or less regulation or a balanced-budget amendment.

"They're frankly avoiding us because we haven't tried very hard, we haven't acted like we want them in our party, and finally we haven't really understood there are certain unique issues that seem to have cropped up more in their community than in other places," he said.

On immigration, Paul said he thinks Republicans need to change their attitude more than their policy.

"I think on immigration we need to have a more welcoming attitude. We need to say that immigrants are assets to our community," he said.

When Republicans have talked about deportation as a policy, he said, "I think that has crippled our ability to get Hispanics to listen to us on other issues."

Paul made those remarks Tuesday, before House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated in a GOP primary by a tea-party conservative who campaigned in part against comprehensive immigration reform. On Wednesday, in a conference call with reporters, Paul said he believes many other factors played a role in Cantor's defeat, including the expenditure of millions in negative ads that served to raise a relatively unknown opponent's name identification.

"I think people from different perspectives will paint it with different conclusions," he said.

Paul is in good standing with Iowa Republicans as he seeks an audience for his message. The Register's Iowa Poll published Sunday asked likely GOP primary voters which Republicans had the best chance of winning the presidency in 2016. Paul tied for third with Mike Huckabee, behind Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

The question now is whether Iowa Republicans are prepared to consider Paul's ideas to attract new blood, or if those who insist on purity will throw him to the lions.