There were times I’d joke, “I’m the most conservative person around here,” back when I worked for what was often called an ultraconservative newspaper.
In some ways, I’m not that far from the Amish, at least in my sympathies, and you can’t get more conservative than that. Apart from my electronics gear and some original artwork, my household at the time was plainer than some of the old-order Mennonites I visited. I’m appalled by waste of any kind, and have been frugal by choice and necessity. You can guess what kind of cars I drive — it took me a long time to accept air conditioning over rolled-down windows. In the political sphere, I’m very much in favor of cutting government spending in the one place it’s truly bloated and out-of-control. (The part that doesn’t get audited.) In the realm of the mind, I love old-fashioned music (classical, opera, folk, jazz) and serious literature – the lofty visions of civilization I believe should be preserved for the future. Conservation and ecological awareness and sustainable economics and small-is-beautiful enterprises – don’t they all fit a true conservative outlook? And then there’s the garden and hiking and camping, all back to basics. My personal finances tend toward debt-free, apart from the mortgage and car payment. These days, many of my clothes come from yard sales. Gambling is out of the question. All that before we’d get to the radical Christian perspectives from the Bible (not legalistic mind you, but prophetic).
None of the candidates insisting they’re conservative seem to fit the daily description, even while insisting everyone conform to their political label. Long ago, I learned to look at actions more than words when it comes to trusting a person. Do they match up?
I just wish they’d call their strand something else, something more accurate. Or change their direction to fit the broader picture.
Jnana's Red Barn 
They are not conserving anything though.
Man oh man that was refreshing to read! I’m way over on the other end of the overstated-to-the-point-of-becoming-fictitious political scale, and I think we agree on a whole slew of things.
I spent at least the first eight years of this millennium watching the “make government bigger in order to give more money to the ultra-wealthy, and honesty be damned” machinations of people claiming to represent you/us, and wondered where the soul went.
One of the things I crave most of all (in my “If I were in charge” daydreams) is colleagues with different opinions, whom I can respect and compromise with. If only Congress represented you and I. Let’s get elected!
The honesty element is so central. The American health system mess could not be effectively addressed when one political party denied it existed. Ditto climate instability and a host of other issues.
Honesty is also essential to respect — for oneself and others.
I completely agree! Now why can’t politicians? Oh, right, profit from division.
Someday!