[Wallace T.]

The GOP has had liberals in its ranks for a very long time: Thomas Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Goodell (father of the current NFL commissioner), Lowell Weicker, and Ralph Flanders come to mind. Until the 1990s, there were still some moderates among the Democrats, and before the 1970s, even a few conservatives. While the Democrats have now become a socialist party with street thug ethics, the GOP remains divided and wimpish.

[Tallguy]

The GOP was the home of the original progessive movement from the Civil War on to the 1960’s. The Democrats, particularly the southern variety, with their Jim Crow baggage were the conservatives. Things began to flip with Goldwater. Went a little further with nixon, and picked up steam under Reagan.