what definition of liberal and libertarian are you going on?

I don't know of a definition of libertarian that Ayn Rand doesn't fit into. Technically she was an objectivist and spoke out against the anarchist libertarians, who are mostly gone from the movement now. By today's standards she'd be a true libertarian.

Ayn Rand was a strict Laissez-Faire capitalist while libertarian political ideology encompasses a broader swath of positions on government regulation. Anarcho-libertarians believe in the totally free market while more moderate libertarians believe that the primary purpose of governmnet is as an intermediate between an individuals natural rights and the repercussions of the free market (externalities).

Go ahead and Google "Ayn Rand libertarian". You'll see quotes immediately like "Russian-born Ayn Rand (1905-1982) brought more people into the libertarian movement than anybody else."

Also from her Wikipedia bio "Rand is considered one of the three founding mothers (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) of modern American libertarianism"

Rand was too intelligent to be an anarchist.

I think I get what you're saying. Rand was a minarchist in most senses. The waters of libertarianism are very muddied.Just browsing wikipedia you get liberalism, libertarianism, calssical conservativism, capiatl L Libertarianism, minarchism,and calissical liberalism. and the terms mean different things internationally.

I love how I somehow get downmodded for pointing out a relatively simple fact.

also this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism_and_Objectivism