Sen. Rand Paul marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at a ceremony this week honoring the late Maurice Rabb, a renowned ophthalmologist and civil rights leader. It was part of his aggressive outreach to African-Americans and other nontraditional GOP voters as he works to expand the Republican Party and as he crisscrosses the country laying groundwork for a potential presidential campaign. It's a community in which he has some fences to mend. While campaigning for the Senate four years ago, Paul sparked a firestorm for questioning parts of the historic law, especially its underpinnings that place restrictions on private property.
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Rand Paul got in some hot water over his 2010 comments about the Civil Rights Act
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Democrats will likely make the controversy a line of attack if he runs for president
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The Kentucky Republican is now trying to appeal to African-American voters
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Experts say he's made strides with his outreach efforts, but needs to keep it up
GOP
Republican Party
Republican
And as the most active Republican leader in the effort to recruit African-Americans to the @placeholder, his comments from four years ago have become a thorn in his side.
Rand Paul
Paul
Rand Paul
He had campaigned for his father's presidential bids and had been involved in political activism, but @placeholder's Senate run was his first big campaign of his own.