“The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope is an enormous disappointment for all those who hoped for a reformist and pastoral pope. ... But we must wait and see, for experience shows that the papacy in the Catholic Church today is such a challenge that it can change anyone: Someone who went into the conclave a progressive cardinal can emerge as a conservative pope. ... Someone who went into the conclave a conservative cardinal can emerge as a progressive pope.”

Joel Kotkin, a professor of urban development, argued in the daily beast that the power of the single voter is destined to fade, since single people "Have no heirs," while their religious, conservative, counterparts will repopulate the nation with children who will replicate their parents politics, ensuring that "conservative, more familial-oriented values inevitably prevail." Kotkin's error, of course, is both in assuming that unmarried people do not reproduce -- in fact, they are doing so in ever greater numbers -- but also in failing to consider whence the gravitation away from married norms derived. A move toward independent life did not simply emerge from the clamshell: it was born of generations of dissatisfaction with the inequalities of religious, conservative, social practice.

If you ask a conservative for a statement of his political convictions, he may well say that he has none, and that the greatest heresy of modernity is precisely to see politics as a matter of convictions as though one could recuperate, at the level of political purpose, the consoling certainty which once was granted by religious faith. In another sense, however, conservatism does rest in a system of belief, and is opposed as much to the theory as to the practice of socialist and liberal politics.

“We need to hook them on hunting at an early age, so they become appreciative of the hunting tradition. This will also increase hunter retention and ensure the future of conservation remains strong.”

“We've done everything we can to make sure our customers are paying as little as they can, but they're still more this year and that's why conservation is so important.”

“This is Middle America. Tracy's values have more in common with the South or the Midwest than they do with the coastal strip of California. Even Democrats out here tend to vote for conservatives.”

“If it wasn't spaghetti I'd certainly be surprised. Ocala is a pretty conservative town and people like things to be the same. I think if it was not a spaghetti supper everyone would wonder why.”

“Asian institutions tend to be more conservative than their Western equivalents. And Asian high net worth individuals are much less likely to give their money to be managed by third parties.”

“From a social-conservative standpoint, he would be way down at the bottom of the heap. At least Romney is trying to flip-flop. Giuliani doesn't even bother to flip-flop.”

“Our members will be ambassadors for ethical hunting, respect for private property rights, support for conservation funding and programs that give our children the chance to learn the valuable lessons of nature.”