If I correctly read "An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard" by Justin Raimondo, Rothbard wanted the libertiarians to take thier message to the center, where the most folks want to get along and get ahead and very few want to control others. These are the rank and file that made the American Revolution possible. They are the engine of capitalism in their dual role of producers and consumers. They are the creators of wealth for all to use.
His beliefs remained very constant yet his political position swung to the extremes by changing conventional wisdom. Finally he realized that to progress toward liberty the rank and file will be instrumental.
The right and the left are moving inexorably toward the same goal of absolute power and away from liberty. Liberty is the only path to progress.
Am I on the right track?
I can't speak for Rothbard but that is my opinion. I like anarchist ideas. I view myself as an anarchist but in public I'm a minarchist. The path to liberty, I'm afraid to say, is to be through the state. If we can get people to understand that the state cannot help them with all of their problems and that keeping ALL of their money is a good thing then we can start reducing the size of the state creating more liberty. Once you have the problem of the ever growing state under control then it is just a small step towards eliminating it altogether. The key rest on getting the majority of the rank and file, as you call them, to recognize this fact and work in harmony to make it happen.
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds. " -- Samuel Adams.