February 24, 2011 07:51 PM UTC

What Do Conservatives Want?

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• by: MADCO

I saw the Lakoff article on Huffpo from last weekend What Conservatives Really Want

 and then had it emailed to me several times. (Yes – I need to get off so many email lists that tell me what I already know.)

Lakoff, like Luntz, makes a lot of sense when he talks about framing and picks apart the meta-messaging, the suggestive and persuasive power of certain words and phrases.

But I am not sure Lakoff gets the rest correct.  I sent the piece to some self identified conservative friends with the question “Is this what you want?”  and got some interesting replies.

Paraphrasing responses from more than one:

– yes.

– Don’t care about labels or parties. I want what Eisenhower wanted  safe, strong, free.

– Not even close. We want fiscal restraint, low taxes and social tradition.

If I ever did, I do not now know the answer to the question.

Lower taxes? Ok. How low?

“Safe, strong, free” – sounds great. Should we outlaw public sector unions or not?

I’ve asked this question to the self identified, or otherwise easily identifiable, R’s and conservatives here before.  Short of ideological one liners, talking points, liberal and D bashing, and straw men there has been no answer.

What do conservatives want?

Fiscal

a) Which expenses (investments) be publicly funded?

b)  To what level should they be funded?

c) How should we collect the necessary revenue?

Social

What Is the proper role of government ?

Examples:

Should it be able to require citizens to marry only certain other citizens or stay out of it?

Should it require or disallow particular medical procedures and practices?

Etc.

If someone would prefer to draft a diary (that is something more illustrative than ideological one liners, talking points, liberal and D bashing, and straw men ) the front page awaits.