I have never been sure as to what a libertarian is and what they stand for. Will a libertarian please give me a brief summary.

They stress the importance of individual freedom with minimal government influence. At least, that's what I've seen. So, apply that to every policy; drug legalisation, right to carry firearms, privatisation and deregulation...

http://www.lp.org/ Check the Libertarian Party webpage for more details.

Richard Weaver defined conservatism as "That paradigm of essences towards which the phenomenology of the universe is in continuing approximation." (Sounds very Bill Buckley, doesn't it?)

Libertarianism is not quite so simple, but the basic idea is to maximize individual liberty. There's a lot of variation among libertarians. I'm one of the more conervative libertarians myself, and I'm not always sure of the difference between me and a Goldwater Republican (if I'm not the only one left) but radical anarcho-capitalists are libertarians too, though those don't generally vote or participate in the Libertarian Party (or any party).

Really, the only things that all libertarians have in common is that we're for as much individual liberty as feasible, though of course our assessments of how much that is vary widely, and that we're pro-free market capitalism (because those who aren't, even if they're for minimal or no government, almost never call themselves libertarians).

Advocates for Self-Government is a great site to learn more.

I am a socio-anarchist, but I agree with many of the LP's stances on issues such as legalizing drugs, prostitution etc... but I don't like their views on minimum wage laws. I particularly like ther stance on gun ownership, and think that all americans should be trained to fight (Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass." that was in 1941)

I have a feeling I'm probably the most left-leaning declared Libertarian on this board. I tend to see minimal government as a goal, but I'm somewhat suspicious of those who immediately focus on certain areas (for example those who attack welfare for poor people yet don't have anything to say about corporate welfare).

I tend to think government creates more problems than it solves, and is a tool that should be used as rarely as necessary.