WikiLeaks publishes searchable database of almost 20,000 emails from DNC.

[CapnAwesome]

Meh. 10 million dollars in public funding isn't going to make a difference for the libertarians. They don't have a money shortage anyway, they raise lots of money. Ron Paul raised more money then almost all the other Republican candidates. Their problem is that there ideas are unpopular. Third parties only win in America if they are replacing one of the main parties. That's because of the winner takes all system. It's happened only a small handful of times in American history. Although I'm voting for Gary Johnson (He's anti-war, ceo of a marijuana company, a rock climber and I like the phrase 'Feel the Johnson') Libertarians don't win because their ideas are unpopular and out of the mainstream. If the conservative vote was split between Republicans and Libertarians, it would just mean the Democrats win every election.

Since someone like Gary Johnson knows that, he has to operate under the myth that there is some hidden libertarian majority, or that people are libertarians and just don't know it. Neither of those statements are backed up by anything other then fantasy. Sort of like a lot of Libertarian economic ideas.

He's not completely wrong about a hidden libertarian portion of the electorate. One of the problems the Libertarians have is that Libertarians have staked out some fairly extreme positions that aren't attractive to most libertarians, so they don't become Libertarians. Gary himself is more of a libertarian than a Libertarian.

There's a real untapped portion of the American public that is basically in favor of classic liberalism (socially inclusive, fiscally responsible) that a Libertarian Party should be representing, but the leadership of the LP seems all tied up with Misesian economics and resisting even the least bit of regulation on firearms.

I think more then likely what you are describing in the future of the Republican party, rather then the Libertarian one. The Libertarians have some very extreme and unpopular things in their platform and it would be a daunting task to replace the Republican party. Social and religious conservatives are almost all old people with disproportionate power because old people turn out to vote and young Republicans do tend more towards soft L libertarian like you described. Fiscally conservative but socially moderate. Libertarians, or rather the libertarian party aren't fiscally conservative. They are fiscally Libertarian, which is very different. I don't think people in large will ever be on board with things like :

Abolishing the Department of Education
Abolishing the EPA
Abolishing all public health
Abolishing the Federal Reserve
Legalizing hard drugs
etc etc etc