So 12% libertarian. 20% Tea party. Roughly 22% fall into the broad liberty camp....Im somewhat disappointed its not higher. Great article either way. Also the northeast is tied for second in terms of location of Libertarians....so much for all that hating on Northerners. Also I dont think the figures include a sizable Objectivist community within the Party, which couldnt further tilt the numbers in our favor (that is if you consider them friends of liberty) I dont think the larger evangelical, social conservatives, religious right, can really be considered our friends unless you want to really broaden the tent and thus dilute the overall message.
I'm generally fine with social conservatives as long as they keep their "social conservatism" to the state level. I mean, my ideal is anarcho-capitalism, but you've got to start somewhere. I'll work with anyone who at least supports the constitution.
That said, Chuck Baldwin and Mike Huckabee would both identify as "social conservative", yet in reality they are completely different. I'd consider the former to be an ally of liberty, and not the latter. I think most people here would agree with me on that... maybe not all.
Really, its the foreign policy, police militarization, military and police worship, mass surveilance, "if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear" mentality, lack of serious support for the 2nd amendment, lack of serious support for lower taxes (There's more talk about "tax fairness" than tax reduction) and so forth than it is with the social conservatism.
Mind you, I understand why some would disagree with me on that. Obviously if you're a drug user than legalization of drugs is likely to trump the other issues for you. Its somewhat lower on my importance list... still high but nowhere near #1. If you participate in prostitution (whether buying or selling), you're obviously going to have somewhat less tolerance for people who wrongly oppose the libertarian position on that one issue than I do. And so forth. The "gay marriage" thing I still don't really understand at all, though. It really doesn't have that much of an effect on your liberty even if you are gay, its seriously debatable whether the effect is positive or negative, and most of the homosexual movement really has little concern for equal rights and liberty at all. Some people seem to confuse "social conservatives" (with an implication of authoritarianism) with opposing abortion and government recognized SSM, and if that's an accurate definition of "social conservative" than I guess I'm a social conservative anarchist
