Scott Wartman

swartman@nky.com

Unlike the capacity crowds he usually speaks to at Republican events, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul walked out to a half-filled auditorium before the National Urban League conference in Cincinnati on Friday morning.

As Paul weighs a possible 2016 presidential run, he has sought more black Republican voters. Paul's stop in Cincinnati on Friday followed similar stops around the country before largely black audiences as he weighs a possible 2016 presidential run.

Whether he's succeeding was hard to tell from the sparse crowd.

Both Paul and National Urban League President Marc Morial attributed the small crowd to the time of the speech, which was at 8 a.m.

"Well, it was early," Morial told the Enquirer. "People may have stayed out and partied a lot last night. I think the most important thing is that Rand Paul was here, and I think he actually addressed some things that are on the minds of these conferees."

Paul received polite applause as he highlighted his policies he thinks could bridge the gap between minority communities and the GOP.

While many leaving the speech didn't seem swayed, some gave him glowing reviews.

Paul may have left Cincinnati with at least one black vote. Kenya Mingo, who works for the Urban League in Greenville S.C., said even though she's a Democrat, she'd vote for Paul if the presidential election were held today.

"I thought he had a lot of passion and you could tell he wants to make a change," Mingo said. "But it's going to take more than just him and he's going to have to be able to build that base and build those people to help him."

Morial said it's too early to tell whether Paul's speech and platform will draw more black supporters. Paul's push for criminal justice reform has gone further than Republicans in the past, Morial said.

"One reason why his presence in Cincinnati is important is because it is the beginning of what we hope is going to be an ongoing dialogue," Morial said.

Paul's speech at the National Urban League wasn't unprecedented for Republicans. President George W. Bush spoke before the civil rights organization in 2003-2004. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., spoke in 2008. But since 2009, few Republicans have reached out to the Urban League, Morial said-a fact he blamed on more radical elements of the Republican Party taking control.

The black vote continues to elude Republicans.

Since Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, no Republican presidential candidate has received more than 15 percent of the black vote, , according to the Annenburg Public Policy Center's Factcheck.org. President Barack Obama got 93 percent of the black vote in 2012, New York Times exit polling showed.

Paul carefully tailors speech

Paul tailored his 30-minute speech to the black audience on Friday.

He made repeated references to civil rights icons Martin Luther King and Clyde Kennard, a black man who attempted to enroll in Mississippi Southern College during the 1950s.

He didn't criticize Hillary Clinton over Benghazi or mention his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, as he often does before Republican audiences.

Paul spoke of his support for restoring the voting rights for felons and other criminal justice reforms.

He announced that he would introduce a bill on Friday that would end the disparity in criminal sentencing for crack and powder cocaine. Crack cocaine carries a heftier federal sentence than powdered cocaine, which drug reform advocates say white drug users are more likely to use.

He talked about eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses.

"I won't sit idly by and watch our criminal justice system continue to consume, confine and define our young men," Paul said. "I say we take a stand and fight for justice now."

The audience applauded.

Paul also talked about voting access. He didn't mention voter identification laws backed by many Republicans and criticized by the black community for discouraging low-income people without IDs from voting.

"I know we've come a long way, but there still are problems," Paul said. "In President Obama's election, a higher percentage of black voters actually voted than white voters in many states. This is a good thing. It's a testament to how far we've come. But obstacles to voting still exist."

One of the biggest obstacles to voting, according to Paul, is those who have a felony record. In states like Kentucky, felons lose the right to vote unless their rights are restored by the governor.

He also outlined his Economic Freedom Zones proposal for poor neighborhoods.

A polite but mixed reaction

He received a polite but mixed reaction from the crowd.

Black Republicans in the audience didn't leave disappointed.

Ronald Todd, an insurance broker from Dayton and a Republican, said he was glad to see Paul express his support of the Civil Rights Act.

"A lot of times people don't think Republicans do that," Todd said. "But when he said that, people were clapping, which was great. He did an excellent job here. I'm glad I came."

But for others, Paul's speech to the Urban League comes too little, too late.

Nicholas Wharton, of Charlotte, N.C., said he didn't hate Paul's speech but doesn't think it erases the history of friction between Republican Party and the black community.

"I think he's got some worthy things to say, but it's really about the track record and a long-standing commitment to this community, African American community, and I've not seen it," Wharton said. "I'm not sure I can be convinced by him."

Paul's support of charter schools and school vouchers indicates he's out of touch with many in the black communities, said Norma Richards, of Columbus. School vouchers and charter schools siphon money from public schools, she said.

"I think that he is a little removed from the realities of the community," Richards said. "He talked about school choice, when you talk about school choice, you're talking about diluting the money that goes around education."

Baltimore's mayor penned an op-ed published in the Enquirer on Friday that said blacks shouldn't be fooled by Paul.

"For Paul to claim to stand up for our values while opposing policy after policy that advances our community is not the way to do this," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wrote.

Despite the criticism, many in the Urban League were happy Paul came to their conference. But rather than giving speeches, Wharton and other Urban League conference attendees would have liked Paul to listen and ask questions.

"What would be really helpful would be the robust exchange of ideas and debate and conversation rather than a one way discussion," Wharton said. "I think presentations are cool but I think town halls in African-American communities could also be effective."