If the Libertarians were to become a viable third party...

[Indy Prez]

Which would there 'solid states'? What would an outright victory (most likely) look like? Who would be their most viable candidate in a Presidential? Which states would they hurt Dems and Reps most in? Discuss with maps of 2016 and onwards

here's my idea of an outright victory

Rand Paul 270 EV - Elizabeth Warren 220 EV - Bobby Jindal 48 EV

[RR1997]

This is how a Gary Johnson win would've looked like in 2012 if he got that much of a swing in the popular vote:

Gary Johnson: 273 EV's
Barack Obama: 187 EV's
Mitt Romney: 78 EV's

[Free Bird]

Already did this topic.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I would first need to know what effect we're assuming this would have on the other two parties.  Does it push Democrats even further left (especially fiscally but also socially) in an attempt to at the very least lock down their base in this new, crazy three-party world?  Or do the Democrats, now with two fiscally conservative rivals (one socially conservative, one socially liberal), soften their tone oh things like environmentalism and become the truly economic populist party of all working class voters?  Does it effectively stop any potential future efforts by the GOP to moderate on social issues in an attempt to expand the map (i.e., do they make an even more serious turn toward cultural conservatism to lock down the South)?  Or do Republicans see an opening to "hijack" a more moderate version of the Libertarians' platform in an effort to more or less sweep the suburban vote everywhere and try to ride that to a plurality?  How the other parties reacted would change my map drastically.

EDIT: If the parties remained the exact same as they are today and a Generic D ran against a Generic R against a Generic L (LOL, what even is this?), this would be the base map, IMO.  Keep in mind all a colored in state means is that they'd have a plurality, which could theoretically be 33% or even lower:

[ElectionsGuy]

I don't see them ever becoming a worthy third party, but I would say they need to get most of the mountain west, the Midwest, and much of the south (like FL, VA, TX) to win, which I don't see happening.

For the Libertarians to become a viable 3rd party, they need to be more like Gary Johnson than the Paul family.

Indeed, the Paul's, while appealing, are more like libertarian republicans than actual libertarians. Gary Johnson doesn't appeal easily to voters but can actually get many progressives on his side if the democrat isn't motivating. A Reason poll showed that 60% of liberals would support a fiscally conservative socially liberal candidate, while only 43% of conservatives would do so.