Republicans currently, generally, are pro-life, anti-gay marriage, want to throw illegal immigrants out of the country, dislike government programs like social security and welfare, and used try to say they are fically conservative, but I have my doubts. They preach individual rights, smaller government, and seem to prefer state government over central government, but the truth is they are for individual rights that agree with their right wing Christians thinking (not that all Christians are right wing). Also, they have been voting for laws to infringe on individual rights in what seems like record numbers to me in the last 10 years. The Republican party is also called the GOP and also think Republican, R, Right, Red.
Dems, are liberal on social issues. Pro-choice, pro-gay rights, seem to have a better understanding of the diversity in our country and the inequities. They believe in government regulation to protect citizens. Things like consumer protections, laws governing business, etc. People will try to say that Dems are not conservative fiscally, but it seems Pres. Clinton was one of the most fiscally conservative president we have had in 40 years in my opinion. He did not believe in spending money you don’t have.
Many people in each party do not agree 100% with the parties platform, so you cannot assume all of these generalizations when an individual identifies themselves as being part of a particular party.