Democrat and Republican are labels given without definition. You can call yourself a Republican but be pro-choice, anti-gun, and tax-and-spend. Political parties are fluid based on which politician participates at any given moment. Actual beliefs are too nuanced to be boiled down to "liberal/conservative" or "democrat/republican". Even trying to do so is making a mockery of democracy, to paraphrase George Washington. A big issue with politics is people pay more attention to the definition-less label and less attention to what the politician actually stands for (if anything).