reply to post by Phlynx
I could see a Conservative Democrats or Liberal Republicans really being centrists.
Another way to view Conservative Democrats or Liberal Republicans is to view these people as being true, died in the wool Conservatives or Liberals
that happened to be aligned with the "opposite party" because the interest group they are aligned with happens to be in a particular party's
tent.
Political parties are necessarily groups of people with similar ideologies, but they are confederations of different interest groups. For example,
big business, the religious right, and military tend to aggregate in the Republican tent. Labor unions, lawyers, and government workers tend to
aggregate in the Republican tent. A person can be a died in the wool conservative who happens to side with the Democrats because he is in a union.
Another can be a died in the wool liberal who happens to side with the Republicans because he heads up a hedge fund.