Via Jim Geraghty Morning Jolt, Philip Klein gives us a concise explanation of why Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster was so effective:

A lot of the outpouring of conservative support for Paul’s filibuster on Obama’s drone policy went beyond the libertarian and anti-interventionist blocs of the movement who were also deeply troubled by Bush era counter-terrorism policies. Even those conservatives who may not agree with all of Paul’s views on presidential war powers were supportive if for no other reason than they relished seeing a conservative win a messaging war with Obama. It was impossible to dismiss this as just a right-wing Tea Party attack, because a lot of liberals agree with the substance of Paul’s criticism. This filibuster had to get under Obama’s skin. As much as anything else, he was elected on a promise to turn the page on the Bush era and conduct the war against terrorism with greater concern for civil liberties. Watching Paul’s filibuster last night, I couldn’t help but think that this is how Obama imagines himself –  a principled crusader for justice. When Bush and Cheney were running the show, whatever could be said about them, at least they were consistent in supporting broad presidential powers in the realm of national security. But it’s hard to look back at the pre-2009 Obama and see him as anything other than an arrogant hypocrite now — somebody who thinks a muscular executive branch is okay so long as he’s running it.

In other words, whether you hated Bush’s policies or not, he stood his ground on his beliefs and principles. Obama has no beliefs other than believing in power, and there is very little evidence of principles.  Sen. Rand Paul comes from a long tradition of standing firm on one’s principles, no matter how the popular winds blow, This is a sign of great leadership. Something we are sorely lacking in today’s White House.

What did Rand Paul accomplish? Timothy Carney lays it out.

But Rand Paul accomplished much more than Carney describes. He accomplished letting the American people in on a story that the mainstream media had not allowed to penetrate into the kind of story where everyone has heard of it. He forced the Department of Justice to answer a simple question; Is it allowed or constitutional for the government to use drones to kill non combatant American citizens on American soil. Astonishingly, Attorney General Eric Holder had held that it might be, but Rand Paul’s filibuster forced the DOJ to say that it was not constitutional. A win for liberty, a win for Americans, a win against Obama’s abuse of power, and a win against an administration who thinks they can make their own rules up as they go along.

The pathetic part of this is that the establishment GOP had nothing to do with it. Conservatives are finally finding their voices by electing men and women who truly represent them, and the GOP, for the most part, fought against them. Rubio, Cruz, and Rand, the rising stars of the GOP, are a product of the Tea Party. They are Senators today because regular hardworking people got off their duffs and made it happen. The Tea Party fought against the establishment candidates with all their money and power… and won. It’s an astonishing story that one might imagine the media being interested in telling. Grass roots people, who had never been involved in politics before for the most part, who met in restaurants and bars and passed a hat for donations in the beginning, fought against the established political power…and won. That’s a story, right?

Not if the media doesn’t agree with the ideology. Then it’s not a story they want to tell.

Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Sen. Marco Rubio are the chosen future of the GOP by the people.

Let freedom ring.