Could you tell me what the difference is? I'm not trying to be a smart ass but I really don't know (same goes for liberal and democrat)...isn't it the same ideals and principles?
Not necessarily. (Thought I'd interject myself

) The GOP is a political party that supposedly represents conservative views. However, which conservative views are represented depend a lot on which ones get the most publicity and/or votes.
The whole problem with the Republican party now is that there are too many competing factions. You have hardline, closed-minded conservatives, Ronald Reagan Conservatives, moderate conservatives, and those who used to be defined as liberals but were cast adrift by Jimmy Carter when he shifted the Democrat party to the left. We get called Neocons and RINOs.
President Bush's problem, which most lefties refuse to even look at, is he is not hardline conservative enough for the Republican party. He was a moderate governor, and started out as a moderate President. He draws a LOT of criticism from conservatives who are farther to the right, and it is those conservatives who have the money and are the base of the Republican voters.
The party that wins the Presidency is the one that gets the moderate vote -- and that is moderate liberals and moderate conservatives who mostly choose to not align themselves with either party.
There are many conservative values that are just common sense and logic and not lighhting rods for controversy, just as there are liberal values that are the same. Both parties however, are projected as being representative of their parties extremes, respectively.