Why does it seem as though liberals like Ron Paul and libertarians more than republicans do?

You know, Some Republicans have been coming around as of late, so who knows maybe there is a sign. Its the neocons that dont like Paul. I think liberals like Ron Paul because he is a Republican that isnt against gay marriage, and has been more anti-war than anyone on the left, and is all about pro personal liberties. And the same with libertarians. The republicans that dont like Ron Paul dont like him because they are warhawks that think government should legislate morality. So youve got liberals that agree with Ron Paul on social issues as well as foreign policy, but disagree with him on economic policy. So That is 2 good things and 1 bad thing, and then youve got the neocons that agree with him on economic policy, but disagree with social issues and foreign policy, so for them thats 2 negatives and 1 positive. Therefore liberals like Ron Paul more than neocons.

Also alot of neocons look at libertarians as a threat since everyone is sick of their twisted version of "conservatism" if you can even label it as such, and our version of it is a lot more viable.

I'm not sure the mutual attraction is based upon similar ideology, but rather that of votes. Traditionally, the Libertarian Party has been a spoiler party for the GOP in much the same way that the Green Party is for the Democrats. That is, they attract votes that would have traditionally gone to the Republicans or to the Democrats (In fact there's some evidence to suggest that if Ralph Nader hadn't run in 2000 then Gore would have likely won the White House.)

Similarly, a vote for a libertarian is a vote for a Democrat so to speak, just as a vote for Nader and the Green Party is a vote for the Republicans. Because of this, I think that Liberals are far more friendly to Libertarians because of this potential to limit the power of Republicans in certain areas.

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Because Ron Paul actually does the things that most Democrats and Republicans only say they do. He's everything we should have voted for, but most of us got too scared of the right or the left, and went into the opposite direction.

But I think a lot of leading Republicans that criticized him during the election, are now changing their stance. I think they were afraid that he would help Obama win if they encouraged too many Republicans to vote for him. I've even heard Sean Hannity praise Ron Paul the other day, and remember when the Ron Paulites chased him down and pelted him with snow balls? I've also heard Rush Limbaugh say nice things about him every so often. I think though, possibly, that Ron Paul scares Republicans because he reminds them how they ought to be. And he scares Democrats because if every Republican were like him, they wouldn't have a chance.

Ron Paul is basically a libertarian Republican. Neo-cons, who have hijacked the Republican Party, do not like him; but conservatives usually do.

Some liberals may respect him, but I doubt they would actually vote for Ron Paul.

As for Libertarians, it makes sense that they would like him, since Paul is representing the "libertarian wing" within the Republican Party.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm probably as liberal as anyone here.

I respect Paul because he is obviously sincere. I don't agree with him on a whole lot, but I really believe he believes it. That's really very rare today, to listen to a politician and really believe he believes what he's saying.

Some liberals are sincere, but seldom Democrats. Some conservatives are, but no Republicans.

I also appreciate Libertarians, they are usually very politically aware and they have done their homework. It's hard to find Republicans here that can really give a good account of themselves in a discussion. Republicans argue mostly by repeating slogans, and if that doesn't work, insults. Sometimes the insults come first. Libertarians at least can make a good argument.

Republicans -fear- Ron Paul, just as Democrats fear Dennis Kucinich or Pat Brown. He reminds them of what they are supposed to be, what they always promise to be, but never are. Driven by principle instead of expedience. Then again, they win. How many Libertarians or true liberals get elected?

I'm Republican and think Ron Paul is the best politician I've heard of in a long time. His integrity is unparalleled. There is NO substitute for that. I guess I'm a bit libertarian, but I've been GOP forever.

He makes me think of different sides of things and has honestly changed my views on a number of things by tracking back policy to liberties, etc.

Liberals like him because of his fierce integrity on civil liberties. Their own politicians let them down when push comes to shove, but Ron Paul is 100% consistent.

Yes I believe they are becoming meaningless. Democrats today are not even CLOSE to being what they were 30 years ago. Democrats of old are responsible for almost every war the US has been involved in. Now they would rather run and hide under the bed! Communist ideas, socialist agendas, have taken over their party. The Republicans, centrist conservatives, have sold themselves out to these socialist ideas as well, so they are no longer real conservatives. Listen to the person speak, closely, whether they have an R or D by their name matters not. It is what they believe that matters.

It's the wrong generalization. Sure, liberals and libertarians generally see eye-to-eye when it comes to personal freedom and foreign policy. However, libertarians tend to place far more emphasis on economic issues and maintain their steadfast opposition to any government intervention and regulation of the markets. Ergo, the majority of Libertarians are actually former Republicans who simply found that perpetuating the "culture wars" is a pointless endeavor to pursue.

As far as Ron Paul is concerned, he's more of an isolationist populist than a true libertarian due in part of his clearly right-wing slant on several issues. First, he supported more restrictive measures on immigration, such as a border fence, "English-only" policy for government services, requiring hospitals to report undocumented aliens, and stripping birthright citizenship for children of any immigrant. True libertarians have a generally "open-border" stance and advocate the elimination of restrictions on immigration and international trade. He also tends to side heavily with big business when it comes to "right-to-work" laws, which Libertarians are now split on, though they had originally opposed on their party platform. (This refusal to address "right-to-work" was in part to a wave of former Republicans infiltrating the party in recent years.) Lastly, the "good" doctor has a blatantly anti-choice stance and once was part of the "Libertarians for Life" movement in the early 1980s. The libertarians are for the most part, pro-choice and take a more neutral stance, declaring support for individual choice while opposing "state-funded" abortions.

Yer effing gorgeous. And republiucans don't like Ron Paul or libertarians because they are too left of center on social issues. Also, republicans have lost their true conservative values. They are the party of hawkish foreign policy, of blind ignorance.

Republicans have a habit of trying to manipulate the constitution to their own (usually religious) agenda.

Republicans try and tell people what they can and can't do with their bodies, and liberals don't like that. Libertarians believe you can do whatever the hell you want with your body, as long as your not hurting anyone else.

Overall, the Republican party is very authoritarian, and that can turn a lot of people off, including many conservatives. Evident by how many registered Republicans there currently are in this country (19%).

Anyway, Libertarians believe in strictly following the constitution for the most part, and the constitution generally favors liberals.

Some people think politics is entirely one dimensional - far right, right, left, far left - it's more complicated than that. Ron Paul is opposed to pointless wars, and opposes the ludicrous idea of imprisoning people for smoking pot. He brings some good ideas to the table. The only party/ideology that doesn't bring any good ideas to the table, and is wrong on every issue (in my opinion) is the mainline GOP.