"Intellectually Bankrupt." That's what "conservative" means if it means someone who claims to be conservative.
We don't need to tailer the word to fit what modern conservatives are, or even claim to be. The word either describes them or it doesn't. Anything else is something other than a conservative approach to the problem.
Well, whether we like it or not, that's the word applied to our grouping of beliefs/philosophies/voting patterns.
So I think it would be useful to come up with an accurate definition of "who we are".
Like I said, the media uses one definition. That def does not describe us. So I disagree with you -- pushing *our* definition of who we are and what we stand for is absolutely a 'conservative' approach.