[Azred]

American political liberalism, from what I have seen, heard, and read, is more than a mere political agendum. Rather, it is a belief system to whom advocates dedicate their entire lives and energies to attain. I'm not saying that conservatives are different, but liberals seem to be more zealous and overtly enthusiastic. In short, conservatives think they are correct from an logical/academic point of view while liberals feel that they are correct from their heart.

Excessive intellectualism aside, liberals in America have the reputation of wanting only to increase taxes on citizens, create large governmental agencies, and rely on the power of inertia to stay in power. Much of this reputation is well-founded, since it is typically what happens when liberals gain political power. Also, they claim the moral high ground at the earliest opportunity.

To answer the main question...traditionally liberals in America focus more on domestic problems like education, employment, and social services than on economic/fiscal policy, foreign policy, and defense. Because America was so successful in World War II and enjoyed such success afterwards, those who did not focus on foreign policy or defense were seen as weak. Also, because the easiest way to shift money to domestic programs is to cut the defense budget, liberals were seen as nearly anti-American. The stigma lasted for decades, so that today the word "liberal" is crippling politically. A favored tactic of conservatives is to call someone liberal--repetition becomes reality.

Liberals often have good intentions but attempt to carry out their plans poorly. For instance, remember the Clinton's attempts to design a national health care plan? Sounds great--give everyone health insurance. In reality, what this would have done would be to nationalize the health insurance industry (driving all providers out of business), put many people in that industry out of a job, and raise taxes (how else are you going to have the government pay for the subsidized premium?). I have worked in the health insurance industry; only once did I ever see a plan's premium decrease. What need was there for this, when Medicare (with its own problems) already exists?

I would go into the foibles of conservatism, but that is not the subject of this thread.