Democrats are communists not liberals. L liberal is a free market lassie faire capitalist. There is no such thing as a conservative. It's capitalism vs socialism/communism/fascism(all same)
I typically vote Republican, and am very fiscally conservative, and largely socially libertarian. I see myself as largely a "classical liberal" in various ways. The democrat party has been hijacked by what would more accurately be described as "leftists", "militants", etc.
My father and grandfathers were old school hardworking blue dog union democrats who were quite socially conservative. They liked JFK, didn't like LBJ (but saw him as a lesser of 2 evils), and liked Clinton overall. They'd be spinning in their graves over what has been going on the last 7 years, and would have likely sat out the last 2 elections.
I believe the federal government should do little more than provide national defense, a sensible foreign policy that protects our interests, and protect us from legit harm and fraud. There are always a small number of people who cannot take care of themselves, but we have gone way, way overboard with the entitlements, crazy checks, etc. We cannot sustain it.