A lot of it also depends on our own view of how we see it from where we sit.
During the New Deal, the difference between the Democrats and Republicans was clear to everyone. At one time there was a great difference between all the Political Parties, but things have changed and the lines between the parties have blurred.
Political Parties went through many name changes before any were final. Since the administration of George Washington two political parties have dominated the United States political system, but they have not always been the same two parties. The first two parties were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Federalists were those who supported a strong federal government and the Anti-Federalists were those who did not. The leaders of the Federalists were Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Both were from the Northeast where the Federalist list of thinking was strongest. Thomas Jefferson's became the leader of the Anti-Federalists. .
Thomas Jefferson organized his Anti-Federalists followers and they became known as the Jeffersonian Republicans and by 1791, were emerging as an opposition political party. Jefferson was elected to the presidency in 1800. During the 1820's Democratic Republican began to split in two parts. The conservatives of the party favored a strong nationalism, a protective tariff, and a national bank. They called themselves National Republicans. The others stood for states" rights, tariff for revenue only, and an independent treasury. They took the name democratic and elected its leader, Andrew Jackson, the Presidency in 1828 and 1832. The party of Jackson is today's Democratic Party. By the election of 1836 the National Republicans and other anti-Jacksonians had merged to form a new party the Whigs. They lost to the Democrats that year, but in 1840 they succeeded in getting William Henry Harrison elected President. (Bender 698).
The Republican Party is the younger of the two major parties in the United States.