Are Libertarians more like Republicans or Democrats?

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I've got to say they probably tilt GOP, but it's fairly close.

[Murica!]

They're members of the IWW(Libertarian).

[Bigby]

At the moment, they're definitely more in the GOP camp nationwide. Bill Maher Libertarians are few and far in between.

[Mr. Smith]

GOP easily.

[VPH]

GOP. Honestly, the only Dem issues I see Libertarians on are gay marriage, pot, and sometimes surveillance and FoPo. Their economic ideas generally fall to the right of the GOP. A philosophy grounded in shrinking government is inherently conservative.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Stoned republicans.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

GOP is the correct answer.

[Figueira]

Republicans obviously, although it depends on which issues you care about more.

[Dr. Cynic]

Republicans by and large... Though you'd see a few like Ed Clark and Mike Gravel who are closer to the Democrats to varying levels.

[Maxwell]

Republicans obviously, although it depends on which issues you care about more.

I think this is one of the better answers.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

They're ultra-liberal on foreign policy and social issues, and fiscally/economically ultra-conservative. The average American cares about the economy the most, so I guess GOP. But it is really a matter if which issues you care about most.

[/]

Nice 37-0 spread.

[PJ]

Normally I would say Republicans, but Donald Trump is far from one on almost everything. 

[Bigby]

Normally I would say Republicans, but Donald Trump is far from one on almost everything. 

Since when was Trump Libertarian?

[PJ]

Normally I would say Republicans, but Donald Trump is far from one on almost everything. 

Since when was Trump Libertarian?

Apologies for the lack of clarity. Trump is far from a libertarian.

[sparkey]

Since you capitalized L, that means we can look at Libertarian Party members in particular. The best measure I can think of for whether Libertarians tend to ally more with Republicans or Democrats is the 2008 Presidential nomination, in particular the 4th ballot when there were 2 clear Republican-leaning candidates (Bob Barr and Wayne Root), 1 clear Democratic-leaning candidate (Mike Gravel) and 1 radical who wouldn't really fit into either major party (Mary Ruwart). The results were:

Barr (leans R): 202 votes
Ruwart (radical): 202 votes
Root (leans R): 149 votes
Gravel (leans D): 76 votes
NOTA: 3 votes

It's pretty telling that the Republican-leaners got more than 4 times as many votes as the Democratic-leaner. There's obviously a personality aspect here as well, as Gravel was seen as a bit of a johnny-come-lately, but then again, so was Barr.

[°Leprechaun]

I voted Republican, but that is because they are too narrow in their beliefs.
If they more pacifist and less pro gun etc and included a more diverse
variety of beliefs they would be closer to Democrats. Both Democrats and Republicans
have become too narrow as well, so I don't see any Democrat-Libertarian alliance
any time soon. Rand Paul is the least worse Republican candidate from my
views on the issues, but he is definately more of a Republican than Democrat.
He has really blown his chances at getting the nomination at this point.
I don't see him rising enough to be a credible candidate.

[Hydera]

GOP. Honestly, the only Dem issues I see Libertarians on are gay marriage, pot, and sometimes surveillance and FoPo. Their economic ideas generally fall to the right of the GOP. A philosophy grounded in shrinking government is inherently conservative.

You should read up Classical Liberalism sometime. A expanding government is not liberal anyway. 

I would very much wish that liberal isnt used in america since the context of the word radically deviates from its original classical liberal definition.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I would very much wish that liberal isnt used in america since the context of the word radically deviates from its original classical liberal definition.

I disagree. It is true that the policies advocated by American liberals have changed since Jefferson and Madison were the leaders of the liberal faction, but the guiding beliefs that unite liberals remain essentially unchanged. Liberalism at its core is the belief that citizens are "endowed with certain inalienable rights" - namely life, liberty, and property- and that the goal of government should be to protect those rights. In 1776, that meant opposing a tyrannical Parliament that was attempting to nullify the right to a representative government; in 1798, it meant opposing an administration that was attempting to limit popular involvement in the political process.

Beginning in the 1890s, however, liberals began to perceive a different threat to individual liberty: instead of an overbearing government preventing the "pursuit of happiness", monopolistic corporations that disregarded the rights of the consumer and of the worker became the chief enemy. With different ailments, so came different policies: liberals like William J. Bryan began to see government as the defender of popular liberty, rather than its aggressor. This is different philosophically from the progressives, who wanted to use government to perfect society and opposed the more radical policies (like free silver) espoused by the liberals. If you listen to what people like Bryan, FDR, and Obama name as their motivations, you'll notice a great degree of similarity to Jefferson and Jackson, despite clear policy differences between modern-day liberals and their 19th century predecessors.

[Penelope]

GOP. Honestly, the only Dem issues I see Libertarians on are gay marriage, pot, and sometimes surveillance and FoPo. Their economic ideas generally fall to the right of the GOP. A philosophy grounded in shrinking government is inherently conservative.

Not only this, but most libertarians I see don't support gay marriage or other social issues for the reasons that socially progressive democrats do.

[ElectionsGuy]

There's a reason its 61-0. The Democrats have done far more to alienate and offend libertarians than the Republicans. Even on issues where Democrats are supposed to be better, they're not much better for Republicans (for example, letting feminists get in the way of legalizing prostitution, or in favor of billions of dollars in "humanitarian" aid because "we have an obligation" (the same reasoning the right gives for military interventions)). The Democrats don't want libertarians, Republicans don't either but they at least pretend to care.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

What I never get is when libertarians call themselves "socially liberal". Like what? Being socially liberal doesn't just mean "opposing the government doing stuff"

[Goldwater]

What I never get is when libertarians call themselves "socially liberal". Like what? Being socially liberal doesn't just mean "opposing the government doing stuff"

The problem with terms like "socially liberal" is that they can refer to so many different tings that they become meaningless. Some people might call themselves that becasue they support legalizing marijuana and prostitution, others might becasue they are pro-choice on abortion and want immigration reform, and others still might use that term becasue they support gun control and environmentalism. These three hypothetical people might agree on absolutely nothing, yet they all call themselves "socially liberal".

[SWE]

(for example, letting feminists get in the way of legalizing prostitution,

Because that was going to happen otherwise?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Yes, it's almost worse than my least favourite political adverb of all time "fiscally". I'm a fiscal conservative! I'm a fiscal moderate! My candidate is the most fiscal liberal!

WTF DOES THAT MEAN THAT STUPID ADVERB FILLS ME WITH AN UNHEATHY AMOUNT OF RAGE, STOP DESCRIBING YOURSELF IN SUCH AN INANE WAY AUGHH