as usual, i am answering not reading what anyone else said; i will do so after i write my answer, so that it will really be me, and not be tainted.
i think that our people are, in fact, generally conservative. the democrats tend to try to please too many all at one time. conservatives are concerned with pleasing THE REPUBLIC. i guess that's why they call themselves the republican party. our nation was formed under the constitution which was written the way it was written so that our government would never be ruled strictly by one person (a monarchy), but to be a government of the PEOPLE. that's why so few powers are granted the president: they are granted by us to our president via the congress, which we vote on to represent us. we cannot all be in DC governing, right? we have our businesses to attend to and our families that rely on us, so we have to get on with our work. and that is why we elect congresspeople: to represent what we, the people, those that foot the bills via paying taxes, want to happen in our country and wherever we travel via emissaries.
i believe that most americans wish to see something come of their labor, i.e., i do not think americans want our representatives to vote to spend our money for the good of anyone other than us. well, at least, first of all, us. if the government spends our money on affairs that do not benefit us directly, then we will perform some sort of revolt. at least, those that are unwise leaders that pay no attention to their constituents' desires will get kicked out of office.
the democrats seem to pander to the whiners in this country, those that take "offense" when a policy is in opposition to their particular cause. for example, the atheists. last year, an atheist was looking at the top of the washington monument in DC. it has four tips, or triangles, just like any pyramid has. the tips are each covered with an aluminum plaque. different artists designed each of the four plaques. so the atheist noticed that on one of these (aluminum, which is important, just wait a minute) plaques had words written on it in latin that translated to "praise be to god." well, he took great offense at that, so he wrote letter after letter and email after email and made call after call until the plaque was removed and replaced with another ALUMINUM plaque. now then, the new aluminum plaque extolls the virtues of aluminum itself, and the reason i am pointing that out is because when those plaques were first made, aluminum had just been discovered in a vein in, i think, south dakota, and was then very expensive.
and so, my perception is that democrats exhibit too much tolerance for special interest groups, for example above, atheists. it isn't that there are no atheist republicans--there must be--it's just that the republicans in the party do not tend to demonstrate so much tolerance for all these ridiculous (in my mind) "offenses." there are so many of them. here's another: PETA members, and another: vegans. the list is endless. but all have the right to say what is on their minds. the republicans do not haul them off to prison for speaking what they believe in, do they?
and so, such tolerance for that which is different from the values that most americans hold quite dear (god, country, and family) makes more people give thumbs down to democrats. democrats are sort of seen as people that are pro abortion, when republicans are generally against it. democrats these days espouse that only a national health care plan that is run by the government is going to cure all that ails us (pun intended). but republicans think more in the line of free enterprise, which boils down to your choice of doctor and treatment. national health care is "socialistic," but not really, because there is no socialism and never has been. there is communism and there is capitalism. republicans are more capitalistic in nature. which sort of goes along with what the general american wants: independence and to live in a country where freedom is apparent in that the government does not always have its nose in your business.
and if you all think about it, and think of the quality of your life now and envision it for the future, i think that in general you will determine that you all want that sort of freedom.
that is what america is. my opinion is one of many, but my opinion is that i want america to return to being highly esteemed in this world (goodness, we help so many nations in need so often--there is no country as generous as our own), to be a land where it is thought that the streets are paved with gold. because, when you think about how others in the world live, with and without their forms of government, you will realize that it is our constitutional freedom that is exactly the gold that the streets are paved in.
for the record, you can read this, but you need not. it is your choice (which is why you know that i am a patriot): http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20080422095947AAi6dYE
EDIT: oooh! i just read ultrajohn's (ultrajones ??? sorry) answer. he claims that conservatives are hard headed and live to retain their opinions even in light of, i will call it, 'evolution,' of how people and times change. and that those of us that think of ourselves as 'republicans' because we are for retaining our republican way of government as people, things and places evolve are the people that were afraid to ask questions in class because we felt we might be laughed at for being 'stupid.' wow! he has so much to learn! i hope you learn fast. and why do i (who, btw, all the profs loved because i was always one to raise my hand to show how stupid i was by asking a question first, which of course then opened up the floor for the profs to answer numerous questions, many of them by students too afraid to ask, so that we all LEARNED something in school) say that? i say it because by allowing just anything to be okee-dokey in our country--without thinking of what is happening and what the consequences of that could be, we open ourselves up to having our liberties stripped away from us. i do not want to spend more time on this question, but i want to say that it is a LIBERAL family of americans that volunteered to be microchipped! why? do you want the government to know every move you make? why? why should it? oh! face the music folks!