It's been interesting to follow this thread and look at the responses. Even though the poll uses the standards of conservative/liberal as opposed to party affiliation, what I really find fascinating is the way the general position of the parties, and their presumed liberal/conservative status, has changed in just a few decades.
40 years ago the conservatives were perceived as trying to enforce their will on the liberals. The liberals were the ones saying "you can't tell me how to live, you can't tell me what to do and what not to do", "I'll sit on the courthouse steps and smoke this joint and there ain't shit you can do about it". The irony never ceases to amaze me.
I am a conservative, and I've got some basic standards that I hold dear:
If you breed them, you feed them.
If you buy it, you pay for it.
Welfare and support programs should be used as a survival mechanism, not a life long entitlement.
If you are not in this country legally, and don't pay taxes, you are on your own.
All I really want to do is make my own choices, as much as that's possible.
Mark