There are two noticeable differences between the optimate/populare and the traditional left-wing/right-wing politics:

1) Traditional politics is much better approximated by a binary. Person’s views on one significant issue, such as feminism, pretty accurately predict positions on foreign policy, economics and environmental issues. By comparison, optimate/populare labels have much less predictive power. While there is a significant correlation between populare (optimate) and left (right)-wing views on economics and foreign policy, both optimates and populares are much more likely to cross ideological lines on individual issues.

2) On average, both populares and optimates are more libertarian and less religious than the traditional left and right.