Sometimes I share Raimondo’s frustration with Paul. Sometimes the Kentucky senator’s rhetorical and political compromises seem silly. He’ll ramp up criticism of Obama and Clinton’s intervention in Libya, but in the next breath support needless sanctions on Russia that I suspect he privately thinks are pointless.

But that’s not a reason to just chuck Paul overboard, just as Paul’s family name and his opposition to unlimited drone warfare aren’t a reason to twist oneself into Jesuitical knots to defend him at every turn. One of the nice things about being a libertarian (and a columnist) rather than an employee of Paul or an operative is that we are free to choose when and on what issue we support the likely 2016 presidential candidate.

And on the whole, Rand Paul seems to be inching the party in the right direction, if slowly and against much headwind. Paul often offers rhetorical hostility instead of sanctions, sanctions instead of conflict, and limited constitutionally authorized conflict instead of open-ended war. He is working to improve bad policies in the face of his party’s lousy instincts, not to mention fickle but generally bellicose public opinion.

But precisely because he has credibility with his caucus, Paul’s filibusterer against unlimited drone warfare was not a one-man show. It drew support from other members of his party.