Abortion and gay marriage are the two most polarizing liberal vs. conservative issues.
I have to disagree. More people support abortion than identify as social liberals; more people oppose gay marriage than identify as social conservaives.
What are the libertarian vs. populist issues? I suppose the fact that I have to ask means that these issues aren't the hot-button issues of the liberal vs. conservative social issues.
Being that libertarianism is (generally, unless you're talking paleolibertarianism) defined as lax governmental control, libertarian vs. populist issues would probably be ones of the extent of government control.
Is legalized gambling an example of a libertarian vs. populist issue? Libertarians are for fewer laws and restrictions, so that goes with legalized gambling. Populists would be against legalized gambling since it's regressive (against economic left), hurts the poor (against the economic left), and leads to more crime and disorder (against the social right). I'm on the populist side of this particular issue. Of course, political expediency trumps ideology, as even the ultra-populst West Virginia has rampant gambling. (The politicians just can't resist the extra tax revenue that doesn't anger the taxpayers like an increase in income or property taxes.)
It depends. Populist voters tend to be economically disadvantaged. In a state like Nevada, they will strongly support legalising gambling. If the economic need trumps the social views, as in Nevada, populists may be among the strongest proponents.
Is price controls on fuel another example of a libertarian vs. populist issue? Libertarians would support the free market and oppose price controls. Populists don't like greedy oil companies or the negative effect of high energy prices on the poor. I'm on the libertarian side of this issue, as price controls take away the incentive to produce more and have a history of promoting the very shortages that cause the price increases that price controls are supposed to stop. (I think price controls are fake populism. Their results are NOT consistent with the ideals of the economic left.)
This is a better example - in this case, people are voting in whatever is in their favour. Even economic conservatives may very well do this if it saves them a few bucks at the pump. You must understand that people here have a more defined ideology than most others do. Voters are not always as consistent as you'd expect.
