The question of the "marriage" between libertarians and conservatives has been kicking around the blogosphere since the CPAC. See discussions here, here, here, and here.

Hopefully, the close relationship will continue because I think libertarians need conservatives. Political affiliation has as much to do with personality as it does with philosophy and a conservative personality is one that is attracted to order and hierarchy. Indeed, the recent success of the Republic Party has been a success of its organization—which is why Howard Dean commented that despite hating the GOP, he "admires their discipline." Libertarians, as a matter of personality and philosophy, seem to distrust structure and top-down authority and the failure of the libertarian movement to gain real footholds is a failure of organization.

This country suffers from no shortage of libertarian mini-movements—take a look at the list of US resources from the International Society for Individual Liberty. Yet libertarianism has no over-arching structure through which the energies of these diverse groups are channeled. Of course, the Libertarian Party should fulfill this role, yet it has, for various reasons, failed to do so.

My point is that since libertarians can't seem to get their organizational act together, they should ride the coattails of those who can. They should maintain a close relationship with conservatives and take advantage of conservative discipline and organization to advance the libertarian agenda.

For a different reason, conservatives need libertarians. A whole generation exists of college students who are disgusted with the hypocrisy and anti-americanism of the academic left but are put off by the stodginess and religious overtones of stereotypical conservatism. With better marketing, libertarianism could attract these kids—many of whom seem to already have a distaste for big government and a general "live and let live" philosophy—out of political cynicism and into the right.

The reasons for a continued "marriage" of libertarianism and conservatism detailed above are matters of political expediency, but the most important reason may be cultural. Both conservatism and libertarianism in this country are ensconced in the rhetoric of American history, patriotism and the mythos of the founding fathers. Culture and psychology are stronger forces than the minutiae of policy, so let's not create a division where none need exist.