In our political science curriculums in high schools and colleges, we have created the sense that everything boils down to "liberal" and "conservative." Oh sure, there's a middle ground, and the more extreme forms of "liberalism" and "conservatism" have names of their own; but it just boils down to this binary system of categorizing ideas.
Sometimes it doesn't even make sense! How is gun control "liberal?" Why isn't environmentalism "conservative?" I dunno... and nobody ever seems to wonder either.
This is not a magic bullet to end partisan bickering, but we should be in the business of promoting robust discussion and not just stereotyping people as free-thinkers and fuddie-duddies nor perverts and the propper ones.