Yes, here in the U.S., "liberal" is mostly used in the vernacular as a synonym for left-of-center on the political spectrum. Of course, that's not what it means to certain academic specialists, and it's not what it means in other English vernaculars. But Americans tend to grow up learning in high school civics classes that liberal merely means left. So that can be a communication stumbling block when writers and readers aren't on the same definitions page.