Rand Paul Filibuster Seemed to Have Killed 24 Percentage Points of Support for Drone Attacks on Americans Abroad

Slate's Dave Weigel notices an interesting shift in public opinion on drone attacks–one that it's hard to think of any explanation for other than Rand Paul's drone-filibuster and its resultant publicity:

A year ago, as the presidential race was taking shape, The Washington Post's pollster asked voters whether they favored the use of drones to kill terrorists or terror suspects if they were "American citizens living in other countries." The net rating at the time was positive: 65 percent for, 26 percent against.

Today, after a month of Rand Paul-driven discussion of drone warfare, Gallup asksbasically the same question: Should the U.S. "use drones to launch airstrikes in other countries against U.S. citizens living abroad who are suspected terrorists?" The new numbers: 41 percent for, 52 percent against.

I told the Sunday New York Times reader a month before the filibuster that Rand Paul was one to watch for the future of the Republican Party.