Liberal or Conservative

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday & the subject of conservative & liberalism came up. He said that he was very liberal & then asked me questions about popular social & political points of view. He said that he was for legalizing pot & prostitution & then gave me a list of reasons why. He asked my views & I told him that I was against legalizing pot & prostitution & then gave him my reasons why.
The conversation rapidly but respectfully began to jump from topic to topic while both of us listened as the other expressed their point of view. He then said what do you think about gay marriage or same gender relationships? I told him that I don't believe in same gender relationships but that I love all people regardless of their lifestyles or ethnicity & that I won't judge others for their beliefs or life style. He said he felt kids should have the right to believe whatever they want & shouldn't be indoctrinated by parents or adults. I said that I agree & disagree because I feel that a parent that believes a certain lifestyle will protect their children or give them a better life, has to teach that philosophy but that when appropriate, the parent should also teach their children that there are many lifestyles, ethnic or religous groups & social or political philosophies that should be considered in life & that all people should be respected & loved regardless of what they believe as long as it doesn't hurt others or impede their rights to do the same.
He told me that he was a liberal but that he was against the degradation of the traditional family values & didn't believe in gay marriage or the liberal standards on television. He also said that he didn't feel society should give money to people who don't deserve it or are lazy because the people who really deserve it are overlooked & are left to struggle alone.
So my question is, What is Liberal & what is conservative? It is becoming more clear to me that other than some fringe differences on certain social or personal choice issues, that most people are somewhere in the middle. If we could get past the B.S. political bantering & name calling & voting down party lines we would probably agree on most everything.
So my closing thoughts are this, Be respectful of everyone & lets find a middle group & kick out all the self rightous politicians that care nothing about anybody but their own greed & power.
These politicians preach one thing to get elected based on polls & then do something else when they are elected & then it is to late to stop them.
The new party could be called "REPUBLICRAT"
Just a thought, you know how my mind wanders? vbs