What is the actual difference between Democrats and Republicans?

[Jim]

Putting it from a moderate standpoint (I'm almost to the center of the political compass, just a bit to the left), the Democrats advocate personal freedom and economic restriction. The Republicans advocate economic freedom and personal restriction. The Democrats are advocates of total change, even in the constitution, and the Republicans are advocates of social stagnancy. Both parties have their good points, however: The Democrats are more accepting of all people, and the Republicans are able to defend their interests and opinions without fearing media repercussion.

Think of the Republican party as "someone" (personification) who has their own, small group of friends at school and he/she is able to fervently defend his/her culture from the other groups and who doesn't really give a flying fudge about peer pressure, and the Democrat Party as a nice, sympathetic person who anyone would like as a friend, but is kind of insecure and jumps on the bandwagon of about everything that is "cool"