Libertarians as the future of politics?

Time magazine suggests its possible. Its article, Libertarians Rising, suggests that as the major parties continue to blur the lines of distinction between them, people will increasingly be attracted to a more ideological model such as libertarianism (or, on the other side, what it calls "communitarianism", a phrase I'm somewhat familiar with because a friend of mine use to work with a scholar who promoted such a philosophy. If that's the opposite of libertarianism, then libertarians are pretty safe from some all-out ideological assault for now).

Time gets things right for once:

Libertarians and communitarians (to continue this unjustified generalizing) are different character types. Communitarians tend to be bossy, boring and self-important, if they're not being oversweetened and touchy-feely. Libertarians, by contrast, are not the selfish monsters you might expect. They are earnest and impractical--eager to corner you with their plan for using old refrigerators to reverse global warming or solving the traffic mess by privatizing stoplights. And if you disagree, they're fine with that. It's a free country.

I like it because it's true.

Despite it's glib tone, the article points to the very real fact that the major parties are increasingly not offering what their constituencies want. The ideology offered under the brands of Republican and Democrat have become muddled. There is a great opportunity out there for libertarians and other more ideological movements to kick into high gear and offer a real alternative - or, if not an alternative, at least a source of pressure on the parties. If such a thing happens, it would be exciting and extremely good for American politics.