Throughout the decades you'll find a common theme
conservatives have always been about supporting the rich, not wanting to support everyone with their tax dollars, personal accountability, racism (the side that fought to keep slavery iirc), anti intellectualism (decades of science denial), tough on crime - particularly when it's by non white people
Liberals have been about hating on the rich (and people they think are rich) , taking care of everyone with your tax dollars, lack of accountability, and soft on crime - particularly when it's by non white people
social spending vs austerity has been pretty consistent in the ideological ethos but populism vs aristocracy has not, nor intellectuals vs grug, nor racism.
they've bounced back and forth on a lot
that's how you wound up with democrats marching with signs like "scientific racism is racism" while demanding asian people be barred from college admissions. Or nuclear energy, gmos, epigenetics, etc. The eugenics movement was driven by a scientific elite of its time, the bohemian college students formed both the basis of the most regressive and progressive movements. I'm not sure crime necessarily meets that mold either, when we look to the question of fairness and institutions that gave immunity to the higher classes throughout history, its hard to boil down what that means for 'crime'. Populist movements and revolutions have been formed in response to lawlessness and gangs, not just repressive military juntas.