3. Get serious about staying out of personal lives.

Many people rightly fear that Republicans want to sharply curtail reproductive freedom, expand the drug war, ban whatever they consider pornography, and treat gays and lesbians as second class citizens. Romney needs to make clear that his limited government philosophy means the feds shouldn’t be intervening in the private lives of individuals unless it’s absolutely central to the survival of the nation. Nobody’s asking for lifestyle approval, they just want to make sure Romney and the Republicans will respect our right to be left alone.

If Romney, Ryan, and the GOP want to win the libertarian vote – and hence win in November – they should acknowledge that the memory of George W. Bush and his big govenment ways – not to mention a great LP candidate in former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson – means they’ve got their work cut out for them, no matter how genuinely awful Barack Obama has proven.