Just for fun, I thought I'd try and answer the question of "What does it mean to be a Conservative?"
I'll start with a quote from the article:
"By and large, however, conservatives agree on the basics. Government that does the least, does the best. The individual is of greater value to society than the collective mob. As an individual succeeds, the nation as a whole succeeds. Power in the hands of a few is bad and collectivism is a disaster. Power in an abstract, distant government should be more limited than the powers of the representatives closest to the people. Power in the hands of the unelected is bad and should be given sparingly. Free markets coupled with free people will benefit us all better than a government picking winners and losers."
I'll add:
(1) Strict adherence to the Constitution as written, not as interpreted for the times we live in.
(2) Private property ownership, and the rights that go along with it.
(3) Statement from the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."