The more people see of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, the more they're impressed with his political talent.
The Kentucky Republican can come across as an ordinary guy even though he's the son of a famously ideological politician. He can identify the right way to frame an issue and the right moment to raise it. His filibuster in March in protest of domestic drone strikes, though based on a fanciful threat, moved the Republican Party in his direction on civil liberties.
And with confidence in government on the decline, the time would seem to be ripe for Paul's brand of libertarianism. The senator himself has presented his approach as a cure for what ails his party. He recently told Chris Wallace of Fox News that the "libertarian Republican narrative" would make the party competitive again on the West Coast, in New England and around the Great Lakes.