The discussion between John and the Publius Endures folks on the possiblity of a left-libertarian alliance has been well worth the read, and there's only one thing I would add. The debate began with Mark pointing out that conservatives shouldn't expect the support of libertarians when they keep doing un-libertarian things like use federal law to enforce a moral judgment against online gambling.
Those who think the purpose of government is the promotion of virtue don't have much in common with those who think its only job is the protection of rights, but within social conservatism there is a split between those who want virtue enforced locally and those who have no problem with enforcing it federally. (I suspect this difference maps onto the difference between social conservatives who want laws to reflect the morals of a community and those who think laws can bring back morals that the community is abandoning or has abandoned.) Between libertarians and the former kind of Burkean a political alliance devoted to the curtailment of federal power makes sense, even if they part ways in state and local elections. Mark's right to point out that where libertarians fall on the left-right spectrum depends a lot on which issues are important at the moment (taxes? civil liberties? war? homeschooling?); whenever decentralism/federalism comes around on the issues wheel, doesn't that put them next to conservatives?
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