NPR has a big piece on Ayn Rand. It quotes her from a 1959 interview complaining about the similarities between Democrats and Republicans:
"Both parties today are for socialism, in effect — for controls. And there is no party, there are no voices, to offer an actual pro-capitalist, laissez-faire, economic freedom and individualism," she said. "That is what this country needs today."
And then NPR opines: "If Rand were alive today, she might be pleased to see that, more and more, Americans do have that choice. And her ideas are alive and well-represented in the U.S. Capitol."
What choice? I'm not saying there's no difference at all between Republicans and Democrats, but it was only about three years ago that the George W. Bush administration, with help from Republicans in Congress, pushed through TARP to bail out banks and auto makers. One of the leading Republican presidential candidates is Mitt Romney, who favored a government health insurance mandate and who criticizes Rick Perry for opposing Social Security. Rand might be glad Republicans are moving in her direction, but she might also be frustrated that Republican politicians still have quite a way to go before fully embracing true laissez-faire economic freedom.