I said in the last post that Rand Paul's filibuster reflected not the view of anti-drone progressives (that the drone war is bad globally), but a much narrower view limited to right-wingers' concerns (drones are bad only when they're used against American citizens on American soil). In fact, if you trust the numbers in a Fox News poll released earlier this week -- and it's been my sense over the years that Fox polls are surprisingly trustworthy -- then Paul's limited view of the problem with drones reflects what the nation as a whole thinks:
Overall, 74 percent of voters approve of using drones to kill a suspected terrorist overseas. That includes majorities of Republicans (80 percent), independents (71 percent) and Democrats (69 percent)....So Paul expressed only the views that get plurality or majority support in this poll. He aligned himself with public opinion. He did not align himself with progressives who are angry about the drone war in general.
The level of approval drops from 74 percent to 60 percent, however, if the suspected terrorist is a U.S. citizen.
Even when it comes to drone use on U.S. soil, a 56-percent majority of voters approves of such strikes on a suspected foreign terrorist.
Voters, however, disapprove of drone attacks when they are aimed at a U.S. citizen suspected of being a terrorist on U.S. soil. In those circumstances, by a 50-45 percent margin, voters say no.
In each follow-up scenario, Republicans and men are slightly more approving than Democrats and women....
The poll finds that 32 percent of voters think that yes, the president should be able to authorize the use of deadly force domestically against an American terrorist. Still, about twice that many -- 63 percent -- disagree and want checks on the president.
(And yes, I realize that Democrats never bestir themselves to do talking filibusters even on issues that have majority or plurality support.)
Paul and Ted Cruz have introduced anti-drone legislation. Here's the key sentence of their bill:
The Federal Government may not use a drone to kill a citizen of the United States who is located in the United States.Wake me when they introduce legislation concerning the overseas drone war. Wake me if one of them even votes to restrain it.
