Lately, conservatism has been thrown around in the political arena. This so and so GOP Republican front-runner being blasted, left and right, they say, isn't conservative enough to win the election to become U.S.A. President. And the desperados have been putting up campaign ads about this conservative front-runner without grounds for fact-checking. I think, Google has never in its history been incredibly busy on word researches such as, http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm to confirm if Donald Trump is that nasty as failing National Review, Glen Beck among them claim. So, what does 'conservative' really mean? On whose standards of conservatism card are they toying around people's minds with? Who do they think they are! Don't they have better justifiable arguments than that kind of pandering? They're losing the taste of luster in what real conservative fat is in their roasting.
Every Republican in America, today, portrays himself as a conservative. There are even Democrats who refer to themselves as conservatives. The word is so overused that I try to remember not to refer to myself as a conservative. A traditional conservative would not be in favor of nation building or of endless overseas wars. What is now referred to as isolationism was a traditional conservative viewpoint. One definition of conservatism is resistance to change, yet I doubt that any true conservative today would like things to remain as they are right now. More in line with the thinking of a traditional American conservative would be the desire for a return to the way in which this country was intended to be, and to an interpretation of the Constitution in the way in which its authors intended. A traditional conservative would be in favor of a federal government that is greatly limited in power. Unfortunately, today most of those who are defined as conservatives, at least within the Republican Party, are neoconservatives. A neoconservative may desire a return to traditional social mores, but neocons want a bigger, stronger federal government, free market capitalism that does not recognize international borders, and an interventionist foreign policy.
I'm a real conservative even with Libertarian leanings especially concerning the size and scope of government.
I'd probably vote for Ken or Sheldon. I sometimes label myself as conservative, but that's mainly in response to raging leftists. I'm actually more a mix of a traditional conservative and classical liberal, definitely not a neoconservative, and I also have libertarian leanings. I'd like to see the federal government constrained, and our country rebuilt, particularly with regard to a stronger economy and creating jobs here, since I doubt the ones that left will come back. By the way, nice thread @Avigail David.