[beavus]

More people instead define their affiliation based upon what they are NOT. For Republicans, Democrats are seen as larcenist, armtwisting, nosy, weak, libertine, and iconoclastic. For Democrats, Republicans are seen as greedy, militaristic, thoughtless, brutish, sanctimonious, and traditionalist.

If, e.g., insatiable larceny bothers you more than mindless traditionalism then you are more likely to identify with Republicans.

It's less what you ARE than what you are NOT.

[Cat loving Texan]

I wish it was as easy as having a liberal vs conservative arguement politically. In Texas Republicans (supposedly conservative) are giving us a massive tax increase.

These discussions are useful.

Clearly the Republicans are the party most capable of implementing a conservative agenda but there are too many moderates.

To me its fairly simple - Conservative believes in:

Limited government and Strong defense

While we are getting strong defense from current conservatives we are NOT getting limited government.

A new group of candidates needs to be drafted to challenge RINOs in all races.

[Jokelahoma]

I'd tend to agree with you. For many, the ideological label they choose to apply to themselves is internalized. They self-define the meaning of the label. Therefore, for example, if I label myself as "conservative", then anyone who doesn't believe exactly as I do on every single issue must ipso facto not be a conservative. It's silly, and it's sad. But it also is the gist of many arguments on FR.