Who here knows what a conservative and a liberal actually are?

Question

This is actually a serious question. It seems that some people are confused as to what our major parties are called. It is NOT the Conservative Party v. the Liberal Party. There are conservatives and liberals in BOTH the Republican and Democrat parties. There are also centrists (or moderates) in each party.

Have people forgotten this?

Answer 1

Not me, though I haven't seen a true conservative get close to any elected office in a long time.

I think most people are thinking in terms of social issues when they say "liberal" and "conservative", with the Dems being the social liberals and Repubs being social conservatives.

But try to find a politician in the mainstream who isn't economically liberal and you'll have a tough time.

Answer 2

Usually a (political) Conservative is someone who wants to conserve the  existing political system, and the political traditions.

US conservatism stands also for a strong military, family values, religion, small government and decentralisation.

Liberals want to maximise individual liberties, are also fiscally and socially liberal (New Deal, Civil Rights Act).

Liberals are NOT socialists. As a German I really just laugh about that. We HAVE a socialist (The LEFT) and a liberal party (Free Democratic Party), and they would never work together.  

Answer 3

How do they even know who they are?

The Republican party of today is more liberal then the Democratic Paryt of John F. Kennedy over 40 years ago.

Everything keeps sliding to the left, pretty soon the Republicans of tomorrow will be as fruity as the Liberals of today.

Answer 4

Both parties use the phrases "liberal" and "conservative" to make members of their opposing parties seem like extremists.  Think about it, they're thrown around like bad words...

Answer 5

Let me give you a brief answer. Conservative =Reagan. Liberal= Obama

Answer 6

REPUBLICANS ARE WHINNING S...H..I..T EATER .

Answer 7

And yet it is amazing how often someone is "the most liberal/conservative member of such and such branch of government or party."  How many "most liberal/conservative" people can there be?  1.  Just like the question, how many mavericks are there at a Republican Convention championing the same ideas we've heard for the last 16-20 years?  Oh wait, we didn't hear any substance last night, just talking points and slamming Obama.  They don't want to run on the record or their party platform (which they haven't even followed with out of control spending and a government that has grown in power by leaps and bounds).

Answer 8

best definition of a consevitive I have ever heard, these are the words of Mr. Glenn Beck.....

somebody that believes in the power of the individual, somebody that believes, please let me make my decisions, that I have a right to succeed and not be penalized for it.  I have a right to fail and have no one run to me if I don't want them to run to me.  A conservative believes I have a right to manage my family, I have a right to discipline my family in the way I see fit, as long as it is not criminal.  A conservative believes I have the right to worship God, I have a right to worship the God of my understanding, and I do not have the right to jam my version of God down anybody else's throat or my version of no God down anybody's throat.  A conservative believes live and let live.  That's what a conservative believes.  A conservative believes in the smallest amount of government, the smallest government you can get without anarchy.  That's what a conservative believes.

Answer 9

"conservative" and "liberal" are names that people call each other to avoid actually discussing the issues.

Answer 10

A Conservative believes everyone should work for what they get and have the freedom to work as hard as they want to make their dreams come true.

A liberal believes work is too hard and it makes people feel bad who are too lazy to work and so government should take from those that do for themselves and buy votes buy giving the money away to those who are too lazy to work.

Answer 11

I think this is the best explanation.

I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl, and

         she said she wanted to  be President some day. Both of her

         parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked

         her, "If you were President what would be the first

         thing you would do?"

         She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless  people."

  

         "Wow...what a worthy goal." I told her, "You

         don't have to wait until you're President to do

         that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and

         sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take

         you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs

         out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new

         house."

  

         She thought that over for a few seconds while her Mom

         glared at me, then she looked me straight in the eye and

         asked, "Why doesn't  the homeless guy come over and

         do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

  

         And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

         Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Answer 12

I haven't.

I think its unfair to just shift everyone into a careful classification.