I’m a liberal, not a leftist. The difference between you and I is that I don’t despise people on the left just for being on the left, nor do I despise people on the right for being on the right. What I despise, as a liberal, is when governments get the idea that they can legislate morality, or when they start acting like their opponents aren’t just wrong but evil villains who need to be annihilated at all costs. This is why I vote against the Republican Party at every turn. Most democrats (outside academia) remain quite centrist in their stated policy goals.