"The most important voting bloc now are libertarians who like gays and guns, low taxes and free speech. They are pro-globalization and antiwar."

I go 7 for 7 in agreement.

Where the votes are - Los Angeles Times:

"...As David Boaz of the Cato Institute and David Kirby of America's Future Foundation note in a study of public opinion polls, roughly 15% of the electorate can be considered libertarian. Such folks are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. They like gays and guns, low taxes and free speech. They are pro-globalization and antiwar. They are at the center of American politics. Win them over and you'll win every national election for the next several decades.

Here are some smart -- and popular -- policies that will appeal not only to libertarians but to other centrist voters fed up with budget-busting compassionate conservatives and nanny-state buttinsky liberals.

* Let patients smoke dope. In the mid-1990s, a number of states, including bellwether California, passed ballot initiatives and legislation allowing use of medical marijuana. The federal response, first under Bill Clinton, later under George W. Bush: Send armed feds to raid dispensaries that are legal under state law and harass glaucoma patients with zero criminal records. The first party to denounce this buzz kill can expect a 72% approval rating from Americans who favored medical pot in an AARP poll.

* Ban the use of eminent domain for private gain. A vile 2005 Supreme Court decision, Kelo vs. City of New London, touched off a grass-roots rebellion, with dozens of states and municipalities passing laws to protect against eminent domain abuse. Polls consistently show that up to 90% of Americans are appalled at the idea of officials pushing homeowners off their property to aid big developers.

* Legalize online gambling...

* Make the Internet tax moratorium permanent. Speaking of online freedom, the Internet Tax Fairness Act of 1998 banned state and local governments from levying sales and access taxes in cyberspace. That was back in the days before the Net economy -- and telecommuting and various other adjunct activities -- had become a mass phenomenon. Every few years, the moratorium comes up for renewal. The party of the future -- even the party of today -- will be the first one to make the ban permanent.

* Grant amnesty...Neither Democrats' fears that unskilled arrivals drive down union wages nor GOP concerns about assimilation are borne out by facts. Most new arrivals go to places with hot economies, and Spanish-speaking households go English-only at the same pace as previous waves of Jewish, Italian and Polish immigrants...

* Bring the troops home, already...

* Decouple health insurance from employment. At a time when every business trend is hurtling toward flexible working conditions, constant job-shopping and project-based assemblages of freelancing humans, both parties are doubling down on an employer-based healthcare system. We retain an expensive, regulation-choked system that assumes company-town-style job security from cradle to grave.

Give consumers more control over their health coverage, health providers more leeway to provide flexible products and employers the option -- not the duty -- to offer coverage as a perk, and you'll be acknowledging that we indeed live in the 21st century. Last one through the door gets stuck with the $100 co-pay.

Nick Gillespie is editor of reason.tv and Reason Online. Matt Welch is editor in chief of Reason magazine. This is adapted from an article in the April issue of Politics."