What does it mean to be politically conservative?  (By magellan (179) on 05/11/2005)

To me at least, it has become more and more difficult to figure out what it means to be Conservative. Several pundits claim that George W. Bush's conservatism is becoming what liberalism was - a belief in big government to address man's issues. Please rate the following items as to how completely you equate them with Conservatism (5=Defining characteristic of Conservatism, 1=not related to Conservatism). Remember, you are not rating your agreement to these issues, just how closely you equate them to conservatism. 5 = Strongly Agree