What is your definition of "conservative"?

Question

What stance on issues is it that makes a conservative a conservative?

Do you concider the following Republicans "conservative"?

John McCain?
Rudy Guliani?
Chuck Hagel?
Olympia Snowe?

Answer 1

Granted, some hide behind the title of 'conservative' but we are able to see through them fairly quickly. The ideals of conservatives are:
traditional rights (but we will change them if necessary)
good leader with our views and opinions, wants what is best for the people
Keeping the country's dignity, (no gay marriages, no taking out Under God in the Pledge)
Possibility to go to war if we HAVE to, sometimes it's necessary
The list goes on and on, add or edit if you want.
And I don't think of many of those people as true conservatives.

Answer 2

Barry Goldwater set the base for what a conservative really was. Olympia Snowe might barely qualify, but the Republican Party has been subverted by a different sort, that call themselves conservative but are better described as Right Wing Authoritarians.

John Dean Wrote a book about it, but he and Barry Goldwater had started it, and Goldwater was very angry that the philosophy he had nearly created with His book "Conscience of a Conservative" had been so badly misconstrued, and name stolen.

So in honor of Barry Goldwater's work, Dean named his work "Conservatives without Conscience"

Answer 3

I believe that anyone who wants to preserve our standard of living, values, and ambition for a strong America is a conservative. I personally believe that 90% of so-called conservatives in America are actually not conservative at all. They have huge spending plans, which has put America in debt. They go to war unnecessarily. These two issues go against the true conservative ideology of fiscal responsibility and non-interventionism.

Conservatives that want to radically change the government based on religion, on issues like abortion and religion in government, are going against preserving American values for freedom. Therefore all of the evangelicals are not really conservative they want to change things radically.

Answer 4

Conservative means moderate.

It is in the center, between the extreme left wing centrally planned economy and the extreme right wing fascism where business is controlled by government via a business government partnership.

Conservatives favor a regulated free market, with the belief that impersonal market forces are better ways to regulate the economy than central planners, with consistant regulation to try to alleviate some of the imperfections of totally free markets. Central planners are easily overwhelmed with the volume of market signals. The wrong type of people tend to be attracted to central planning postions, and it tends to lead to corruption.

Conservatives support social programs for those who cannot possibly produce enough of what others value to be able to sustain themselves, and for a variety of government funded programs that our society values.
.

Answer 5

They see no Grey!

Her is a answer a little on the right side of conservatives who unfortunately destroying their party!

political ideology and mass movement that seeks to place the nation, defined in exclusive biological, cultural, and/or historical terms, above all other sources of loyalty, and to create a mobilized national community.[1] Many different characteristics are attributed to fascism by different scholars, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, corporatism, collectivism[2], anti-liberalism, and anti-communism. There are numerous debates between scholars regarding the nature of fascism, and the kinds of political movements and governments that may be called fascist. For further elaboration, please see definitions of fascism and fascism and ideology.

The term ******** was first used by Benito Mussolini, and it comes from the Italian word fascio, which means "union" or "league", and from the Latin word fasces (fascis, in singular), which means rods bundled around an axe. The fasces was an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of magistrates, and the symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is very difficult to break.

Since the end of World War II, there has been considerable stigma associated with fascism, and few political groups in the past 60 years have dared to openly identify themselves as fascist. Unlike other ideologies, fascism never generated a large body of dogma or political theory, and, most importantly, there have been no significant political texts written from a fascist point of view since 1945. Thus, nearly all works on the topic of fascist ideology have been written by non-fascist and anti-fascist authors, and it is often difficult to determine the fascist position on many important issues. The word "fascist" is often used pejoratively, a label used by people of all political views to draw criticism upon an opposing viewpoint. This has spilled over into debates concerning the ideological nature of fascism, with adherents of some ideologies trying to draw parallels between fascism and their own ideological opponents.

Wilkopedia

Answer 6

Conservatives subscribe to the belief that "If God did not want them sheared, He would not have made them sheep." They believe that man is basically bad, and that life is a struggle, and that you must look out only for yourself. If you succeed, fine, if you don't, you are inferior. They support economic and political agendas which reward the most aggressive and greedy of us, and abhor compassion having anything to do with public policy. They have opposed empowering any other group, having fought against: women's rights to vote, equal pay, and their rights to choose and get bank loans, Black's right to vote and equal rights amendments, unions and worker's rights to organize, handicapped rights to equal access to public places, social security, medicare, food for children programs, child labor laws,
gay rights, consumer rights for protection from exploitation, the 40 work week, the minimum wage, the list goes on and on. They say they do this out of love for what this country stands for. But, underneath, they mean us harm if we are not on their side.

Answer 7

The definition of happiness is "being content fabric with one's self." It doesn't rely how far up the ladder-of-existence we've climbed, fairly its how we taken care of others as we make the confusing climb to the precise.

Answer 8

It's a "B u l l s h i t" term now, it means nothing anymore, after this administration. They are defiantly not fiscally conservative, This administrations has rung up the BIGGEST national debt ever. 9 Trillion dollars, That 30,000 dollars per U.S. citizen. Morally conservative now means poking your nose into private citizens personal life, with the patriot act.

Answer 9

A conservative wants to preserve traditional beliefs and values and believes that the government should protect the nation from invaders and let the people be free to handle their own everyday responsibilities.

Well, that pretty much sums it up.

Answer 10

#1) Morons say "President Bush" instead of just Bush.
#2) They don't want everyone to have equal funds in life.
#3) They want me to get a job to serve THEM!
#4) They are disillusioned into thinking that the greatest country in the world could really be attacked by terrorists. Someday they will see that Bush planned 9/11.
#5) Ask Bush