As far as I know Ron Paul is not an Ayn Rand Objectivist. He is a Walter Block libertarian, with the heart of his influences in Ludwig von Mises.
There's Patri Friedman, who's Milton Friedman's son, and like his father is also a non-Objectivist libertarian whose ideology is principally influenced by Hayek.
Then there's Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, who's libertarianism appears to be strongly influenced by Hayek and John Rawls.
In fact, I really have to strain myself to think of any major thought leading libertarians who are Objectivists. Only Alan Greenspan comes to mind, but even Greenspan more or less recanted his Objectivism in the 1980s.
It's strange that people think most libertarians are Objectivists. In fact, many Objectivists -- including Rand herself -- don't even consider themselves to libertarian, but a distinct ideology.
Some libertarians even advocate for some degree of welfare. Hayek was surprisingly okay with the idea, and Milton Friedman proposed the
Negative Income Tax.
Geolibertarians, too advocate for a form of welfare, in the form of a citizen's dividend.
It's quite hilarious to me, that people constantly deride libertarianism in general, as if it's dominated by Rand heads.
Libertarianism is also often derided as an "extreme" ideology. Of course, libertarianism is a word that describes a fairly wide set of ideologies. Most political philosophers would agree that the people who wrote the US Constitution were libertarians. One of the framers of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Alan Borovoy, is a self-professed libertarian.
A lot of people think free market libertarians are defenders/supporters of big business. Once again, not true:
http://www.thevolunteer.ca/2011/03/libertarians-hate-big-business/
If you think this, you ought read Milton Friedman's Free to Choose, or even Hayek's Road to Serfdom.
When you look at these things from a political philosophy standpoint, libertarian influences have been pervasive throughout North American history. From the founding of the United States, to the framing of the Canadian Charter. Libertarian thought was at the heart of the Upper Canada Rebellion -- right here in Toronto -- which ultimately culminated in the Responsible Government movement in Canada.
Luis Reil's rebellions where rooted in classical liberal ideas. And classical liberalism and libertarianism can be used fairly interchangeably.
To dismiss libertarianism as a crackpot ideology is quite honestly, to impugn a fairly significant influence on the development of our country and it's history.
Atheism, and therefore fairly liberal social views are fairly prominent in libertarian thinking, as well. In fact, one of GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson's political slogans is "Where LGBT isn't a four letter world." (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUEa7V3TgGQ). Frederich Hayek was an atheist. Milton Friedman was an atheist.
This one point alone represents a fairly humongous divide between libertarians and conservatives, in general.
But then again, for many people, if you don't accept the status quo, you're a crackpot.