“Then again, anyone who espouses a smaller, more Constitutional role for the FedGov is aligning with libertarian philosophy whether they are cognizant of the idea or not.”
Very true, and many are not cognizant of that. I have had people on here tell me that they are for limited government, but that they arrive at this position without reliance on any libertarian philosophy. That’s a bit like saying an apple hit the ground because it fell out of a tree, and that gravity had nothing to do with it.
The main reason the Pauls are not Libertarians is the issue of abortion. The Libertarian Party alienates a lot of people (me, for instance) with its position, which is essentially no different from that of the Democrats. They are also to the Right of the LP on immigration, and Rand is on foreign policy.
Complete agreement.