The October edition of Cato Unbound is now underway with a new essay making “The Case for the Libertarian Democrat” by Markos Moulitsas, proprietor of the web’s most popular political blog, Daily Kos. Bruce Reed, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, Harold Meyerson, editor of the American Prospect, and Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason will reply.

Looking to next month’s midterm elections, this month’s topic is “Should Libertarians Vote Democrat?” Here’s the lowdown about this issue:

In over a half-decade of Republican political dominance, Americans have witnessed a huge expansion in the scope and cost of government, a questionably justified and so-far unsuccessful war in Iraq, serious erosions of civil liberty, and a troubling tendency toward an imperial executive. Is it time for the traditional alliance between libertarians and conservatives to finally end? If Republicans in power have failed so utterly to promote libertarian ideals, would libertarians better advance their cause by supporting Democrats at the polls? Of course, the fact that libertarians have been so badly abused by conservatives doesn’t necessarily imply they will find a more welcoming home among liberals. Is the Democratic tent big enough to include small-government free-marketeers? Perhaps libertarians have something to gain by supporting to Democrats, but does the Democratic party have anything to gain by courting libertarians?