It means absolutely nothing, the same as “homophobe” and “religious right.” Merely terms of contempt invented by the left for normal people.
And occasionally used by the right to deride their fellow conservatives with whom they might disagree with on a single issue. See also: RINO.
It didn't take long for Democrats to begin referring to all Jews who were not Democrats as "Neocons".
I don't know about that. It can have a great deal of meaning.
I like to think of my Dad, who passed away just recently, as a paleoconservative. He was of the old cave man persuasion in just about every aspect of his life. He was also libertarian conservative.
I, on the other hand, am much smarter than my Dad ever was. I was a liberal for ninety-six minutes when I was a senior in high school. In that ninety-six minutes I had a discussion on philosophy with my Dad when I told him what a paleomaroon he was.
The first thing I did when I left high school was get a job. That, of course, changed everything. I became a conservative. I've always liked to think of myself as a mesoconservative. I also share a great deal of my Dad's libertarianism.
Now, I'm pretty haughty. When the old man ever wanted to bring me down a peg or two he reminded me of my liberal ninety-six minutes. Paleoconservatives never forget anything, and they can be an unforgiving mob. Now that he is up there laughing at our foibles, I can refer to that ninety-six minutes as my paleoliberal phase.
Steve M.
P.S. I just don't have any time at all for neoconservatives. They need to vote for conservatives. That's why God made them. Otherwise they need to sit in their basements and talk to Cuban insurgents on short wave radios and leave the rest of us real conservatives alone.