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Originally Posted by politicophile
Fundamentally, my point is that your statement has little basis in fact. Republicans and Democrats have both enjoyed major victories over the years. Alternatively, although the country has become more liberal since the Founding, the New Deal was a giant leap towards conservativism.
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Linking liberal and conservative issues in terms of Republican and Democratic parties is wrong, and I did no such thing. Before the Civil War, the Republicans were the party of emancipation, and the Democrats were the party of the South, i.e. pro-slavery. So, incredibly, the Republican party was the "liberal" party and the "Democrats" were the conservative party. When civil rights came around, black voters shifted sides as the Democratic party came out as the "liberal" party in favor of civil rights, and the Republican "party" was more for gradual economic and social change, the more "conservative" ideal here.
The New Deal as "conservative" legislation? I'm pretty sure that's just an incredibly incorrect statement. Conservatism was better seen in the policies of "laissez-faire" (spelling check?), and FDR's policies were an incredible stepf forward for liberal thinking brought about by a reaction to the Great Depression and the prevalent feeling that the Republican party was the party of "cold, uncaring bankers." Unfortunately for Hoover, who was actually quite sympathetic to the people, he could not change this image and did not have the personality that FDR had.
Your definitions are just completely wrong. Conservatives generally blelive in small government which does not regulate the economy, but socially they have been a bit ambiguous. Libertarians look for the government to be small and not to interfere with local decisions, while evangelicals have looked for the government to step in for decisions on morality, such as sex-education in schools, though even they would prefer it be handled locally.
Liberals today tend to believe in free-market economics as well but they do want governemnt to make sure the consumer is protected against big business, and to make sure class gap is not widended. Socially, they want freedom, but are not afraid of making sure government has the power to guarantee that there is freedom.
As a complete joke, I demand you change your Reagan icon to a FDR icon so as to show your newfound conservative love.
