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IME he is pretty much worshipped by the libertarian crowd, but not taken seriously in the mainstream. His son Rand Paul seems to be taken more seriously, but libertarians seem to have extremely mixed opinions of him, since he is more of a pragmatist than his father (which they interpret as compromising on core values). Note: I am not a libertarian, but I have many friends who are deeply involved with the movement, so this is my rough view from afar.

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If by pragmatist you mean Republican. Although they have both done their duty by the Republican party for decades.

Like I said, I have no bone in the fight, but your response pretty much illustrates my point.

Not to get too into the weeds, but it sounds like you would fall onto the side of the spectrum where Ron Paul is also seen as an "apologist" of sorts. I know several libertarians who also fall into this camp, and would view Ron Paul as "better-than-Rand-but-no-Rothbard" type.

For what it's worth I respect the libertarian point of view and find it fascinating, despite disagreeing with some of the basic premises (but that's where the fun debates are).

As a hardcore libertarian, I approve of your layman's explanation.

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