In modern US politics, there are no longer simple "liberals" and "conservatives". There are social liberals, social conservatives, political liberals, political conservatives, fiscal liberals, fiscal conservatives (and I'm sure many more, but that covers the basics).
Based on the President's policies, I would call him a social conservative (anti-gay marriage, anti-right to privacy, anti-choice), political liberal (expanded role of government), and fiscal liberal (increased spending). So to define the President as a conservative is misleading at best. The same goes for Senator Kerry, a social moderate (anti-gay marriage, pro-choice, pro-right to privacy), political liberal (expanded role of government), and fiscal conservative (limit government spending, anti-deficit spending). To define him as simply liberal doesn't take into consideration some conservative qualities he has.
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"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."
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