I call myself a liberal because I like to. Not because I see myself being like anyone else who calls themselves a "liberal". My husband calls himself a conservative because that's what he thinks he is based on his experiences of "conservative" and "liberal" where he comes from. Mostly, our political philosophies are very similar. I guess that just makes us average people who apply different adjectives to our political philosophies.

I used to refer to myself as a liberal who voted moderate. I would probably have voted for McCain had he gotten the Republican party nomination in the last presidential election. But that was before I learned a lot of things about the world that make me see everything politicians do in a whole new light. I have no idea how I'll be voting this next time around. I guess it depends on who they give us to choose from.

But I certainly don't base my sense of identity on my political philosophy. My political philosophy is an extension of who I am, not the other way around (ie: getting my sense of identity from whatever "group" I align myself with). I suspect this is the case for a lot of people who call themselves conservative as well.