'Has the "Libertarian moment" finally arrived?'.

• Position: Reaction - Excerpt

Robert Draper's August 7 cover story in The New York Times Magazine about the ascendance of libertarianism in American political life featured a report from reason's "posh" Washington, D.C,. office, numerous interviews with reason staffers, and a glimpse at how libertarian thinking is changing American politics.

Below, some excerpts from the article:

"Libertarians, who long have relished their role as acerbic sideline critics of American political theater, now find themselves and their movement thrust into the middle of it. For decades their ideas have had serious backing financially (most prominently by the Koch brothers, one of whom, David H., ran as vice president on the 1980 Libertarian Party ticket), intellectually (byway of policy shops like the Cato Institute and C.E.I.) and in the media (through platforms like Reason and, as of last year, 'The Independents'). But today, for perhaps the first time, the libertarian movement appears to have genuine political momentum on its side."

"The age group most responsible for delivering Obama his two terms may well become a political wild card over time, in large part because of its libertarian leanings.... Emily Ekins, a pollster for the Reason Foundation, says: 'Unlike with previous generations, we're seeing a newer dimension emerge where they agree with Democrats on social issues, and on economic issues lean more to the right. It's possible that Democrats will have to shift to the right on economic issues. But the Republicans will definitely have to move to the left on social issues. They just don't have the numbers otherwise.'"

"By cable TV standards, [The Independents'], which is shown four times a week, is jarringly nonpartisan, for the simple reason that [Kennedy] and her co-hosts--the Reason magazine editor in chief Matt Welch and the entrepreneur Kmele Foster--are openly contemptuous of both parties.... She, Welch and Foster take turns on the show bashing not only 'Obamacare' but also the N.S.A., neoconservatives and social scolds. It's not a hospitable forum for G.O.P. talking points."

"Nick Gillespie is to libertarianism what Lou Reed is to rock 'n' roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit. He is 50, a former writer for teen and heavy-metal magazines...