The first thing to understand about USA politics is: everything is shifted one slot to the right.
Forex, Democrats aren't wishy-washy 'Liberals' really. They are more like a European Center Right party. What Europeans call 'Liberals', we call 'Socialists' and what Europeans call 'Socialists', we call 'Communists'.
The founding fathers of the USA tried to create a system hostile to political parties. In the end they created a system favorable to only two parties.