Why is this the case? I understand that the Demcratic party supports gay rights and abortion, but is that enough to claim you support liberty? Look at all of your freedoms that they want to take away. Can a party that believes that an indiviual can't survive without the goverment really be considered liberal? How come everytime we here about the goverment wanting to regulate something it is always a democrate thats headding it? Liberman with his grave concerns over video games, Tipper Gore and her crusade against music, and more recently Senator Earnest Hollings wanting to regulate what you do on your own PC. I don't know what they are, but I do know they are not for freedom.

This is just what the word has come to signify.

The dictionary definition of conservative does not really apply to the way we use it regarding political beliefs either.

Quite oddly, in France the term "liberal" applies to rightwing parties and theories. It is most often used only in reference to economics : French "liberal" are supporting ideas very similar to american conservative (little involvment from the govt in economics, self-regulation by the market, etc…)