Bush is not exactly conservative either, other than being for tax cuts and fighting the WOT.
Virtually all of his other domestic programs are what I should call moderately progressive.
Those are two of the four primary issues on the conservative agenda. Support for a strong defense, limited govt, tax reform and advancing pro-life concerns. Bush may not be a conservative ideologue, but he is politically conservative. An instinctive conservative.
It's a monster of a system that has become our modern day government. So many dollars, so many bureaucrats, so many lobbyists, ... and no end in sight.
I feel for the President and his administration, they are in a tough spot. They are trying to move thru legislation sorely needed (energy bill comes to mind, for one) but obstructionist forces stand in their way in every area proposed for reform or elimination.
The task is enormous,, but to fail to even try and propose and enact reforms in "entitlement" programs and allow for some control over monies withheld for future purposes, puts us only a couple a years away from a 10 Trillion dollar national debt.