Libertarians somehow expect to reverse 75 years of creeping solution in one magnificent election that will turn all that around. "Just let us win one, and we'll make it all better."
Sorry, but that is not going to happen. I lean libertarian on most issues, but the Libertarian Party is simply unrealistic. Political change in this country is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Socialism came here slowly, and seduced the electorate bit by bit. It's reversal is going to have to come in the same fashion because Americans almost never vote for truly radical changed.
Many Libertairans are former Republicans who became disenchanted with the GOP. But look, if you couldn't muster sufficient strength to win the ideological battle within the GOP, which is only 35% or so of the electorate, how do you ever expect to gain majority power outside the GOP? Its the whole big pond/little pond scenario. The percentage play for libertarians is to stay in the GOP and fight for the soul of that party. Sure, you're going to go at loggerheads with the religious conservatives, so avoid the divisive fights in the beginning and find common ground on other issues. Win your agenda slowly, because that's the only way its ever going to get enacted, Ayn Rand fantasies of Atlas Shrugged notwithstanding.
My guess, though, is that most Libertarians prefer to play the martyr card, bemoaning the lack of intellect within the electorate and the creeping socialism enabled by their abstinence.