[MrMon]

There was a significant book published in the last few years on this subject that I cannot recall the name of. (And if anyone knows what it is, please post it.) The basic thesis is that there have been 7-12 "interest groups" throughout American history and that their occasional reshuffling is what we know as political realignment. And yes, the "libertarians" have been aligned with the Republicans for some time, and it is their cutting loose from the Republicans that caused the recent election results. It may not be a permanent shift, but the libertarian vote is now up for grabs for the first time in a long time. Speculation is, it'll move back to the Republicans as Bush/Rove move out of the picture and the power of the Religious Right declines. There are quite a few articles on the whole thing out there right now.