well, you also have to keep in mind that the word has changed meaning, as well.
dukakis became clinton became obama, and the term 'liberal' ended up merged with the concept of 'neo-liberal', and pulled to the right of the spectrum.
i use the term pretty classically, as though it belongs to the period when liberals and anarchists were interchangeable. i then extrapolate broad concepts from it. i'd rather vote for a socialist party than a liberal party.
but, that doesn't change the reality that, to a lot of people, 'very liberal' means you read ayn rand, work for the koch brothers and follow alan greenspan on twitter.
https://www.npr.org/2016/04/30/475794063/why-are-highly-educated-americans-getting-more-liberal
jagmeet singh must cut his beard.