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Cory Booker, Rand Paul show lighter and serious side of alliance

WASHINGTON – Cory Booker and Rand Paul took their buddy-movie-style alliance and push for criminal sentencing reforms to Twitter and PBS' NewsHour Tuesday, highlighting the serious and not-so-serious side of their high-profile cooperation.

The two famous Senators, one a bald Democrat from Newark and the other a curly-haired Republican from Bowling Green, Ky., began the day poking fun at one another on Twitter for each making The Hill's annual list of Washington's 50 most beautiful people. (Booker tweeted that they were "late pity adds.")

Later, they pushed their bipartisan case for changing criminal sentencing laws to help people get back to work and receive federal benefits after leaving jail. (And they're set to do it again Wednesday afternoon on MSNBC).

"What we really need is a broad-based transformation of criminal justice, that actually saves taxpayer dollars, empowers people to succeed and keeps our streets safe," Booker said in a joint interview on NewsHour (video velow). "I've seen first-hand how our broken criminal justice system actually adds to criminality by making people who otherwise want to be able to do the right thing, by shutting doors in their face and not giving them a chance to redeem themselves."

Booker and Paul's REDEEM Act, introduced earlier this month, would make it easier for adults to seal records of non-violent crimes, help juvenile offenders by automatically expunging records of non-violent crimes committed before they turn 15 and sealing records of non-violent crimes after that age, encourage states to set 18 as the age for trying criminals as adults and allow low-level drug offenders to collect food stamps and welfare.

Paul said existing rules are "the number one impediment, or one of the chief impediments, to unemployment, because people have to check off a box saying they're a felon."

He said such laws affect 5 million people convicted of felonies but now out of jail.

"It's denying them an opportunity to get a job. I want people to work, I want people to get back to work, I want them to get back to voting," Paul said.

It's unclear if the law has much chance of passing a gridlocked Congress this year, though the proposal between the two Senators has drawn significant attention, both for the issues it raises and the big names on the bill.

Politically, both men stand to gain from building bipartisan credibility as voters grow disgusted with political stalemates.

Booker arrived in Washington pledging to work in bipartisan proposals – "this is what I promised New Jersey voters that I would do," he told NewsHour – while Paul has tried to reach out to minority communities, particularly African-Americans, as he positions himself for a potential presidential run.

"I think the war on drugs has had a racial outcome – we ought to try to fix that as well," Paul said. "Is it good politically? I'm obviously a politician, I like to get more votes, but it's also the right thing to do."

Of course, NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff pointed out that Paul had campaigned for Booker's Senate opponent just last year.

Said Paul, "we hope he forgets that."

You can follow Tamari on Twitter or email him at jtamari@phillynews.com.