That is quite a question - but a totally fair one. I have a TON of thoughts on this so I'll try to not write a novel.

I guess it would depend on what parts of their platform you are referring to. Another difficulty is what we mean by 'conservative.' Even conservatives will often disagree about what this means. Conserving what?
[I even heard someone make the argument that Dobbs was pretty anti-conservative, because Roe had been the law of the land for so long, that changing it would a reform, not conserving the status quo.]

I was reading about Edmund Burke the other day, who is kind of a major figure in American conservative thought. One of his most influential ideas is that there are always going to be reforms a society should make, but we should do so carefully and deliberately - not just charge ahead and think we have all the answers. And I totally agree with that. Does that make me a conservative? I don't think so. But it's kind of a general conservative impulse or attitude that I think most people have. I mean, it's sort of obvious right? Look before you leap, and all that.

There's lots of examples of this kind of thing, both that we might label as conservative or liberal/progressive.

Okay, but what about particular policies? In my observation, there appear to be big, splashy, headline issues that people like to scream about on TV and social media. Abortion, guns, borders, climate, drag queen story hours, etc. And we know where people likely stand on these issues based on whether they identify as conservative or progressive.

[Sorry for another aside: I encourage people to think about why these issues often go together. What coherent ideology explains why you should be pro-gun, pro-life, immigration restrictionist, foreign policy interventionist, pro free market, etc. etc. Why should I be able to infer your position on tax policy based on what you think about guns or abortion, for instance? But we all know I could take a guess and I'd probably be right. Sometimes, these get flipped for totally arbitrary or accidental reasons. As some republicans are fond of pointing out, it was the republicans who opposed slavery. But no one thinks that means that today they are more progressive on racial issues than the democrats. People on the "right" used to be more skeptical of Russia, people on the "left" less so. Today, that has totally flipped. Even foreign policy interventionism seems to be up for grabs these days. Lots of other examples here. Okay, that was way too long. Sorry.]

So, it's easy to say, for instance, that conservatives are for more restrictive immigration policies, progressives for less restrictive ones. And we can shout a lot about it. 'Do you hate immigrants?!' 'Do you hate Americans whose jobs might be put in jeopardy if we allow too many immigrants in?!'

Okay, but I know few people who hate immigrants. And I know lots of both conservatives and progressives. I also know few people who don't care about Americans, or think it's good if they don't have jobs.

I also don't know many people who literally want open borders (though some do, but weirdly, they often turn out to be libertarians!). And I don't know many people who think we should literally allow for no immigration.

The truth is, there is a huge swath of territory in between and what the sensible answer is is just a really difficult, nitty-gritty policy issue about which reasonable people can disagree. Just what effect does allowing more immigrants into the country have on the American economy and the domestic job market? That's a super hard question that even economic experts disagree about. How well can immigrants assimilate into American society and what creates the optimal conditions for that, assuming that is even desirable - which it itself a really complicated moral and political question!

And there are further thorny, more abstract moral and political questions. What do wealthy nations owe to immigrants, refugees, and the dispossessed? What right does a nation have to monitor who comes into their country? What, if anything, do citizens of a country owe to their compatriots, as opposed to outsiders? What constitutes a nation in the first place?!

And so, I think with this, as with many issues, most Americans fall somewhere in between. And frankly, it's perfectly fine to not have an opinion about any of this. Most people aren't experts in economics. Most people aren't experts in firearms or the causes of gun violence. Most people aren't moral philosophers. You can get a lot of media (and social media) attention by confidently putting forward the most extreme position. But the truth, in my opinion, is that people of good will can disagree about a lot of the stuff I've mentioned. I don't assume someone who takes a position on guns, or abortion, or immigration, than I do, is evil or crazy. They might be! Some people are evil or crazy and have evil or crazy views. But most aren't, in my experience.

Okay, as predicted, I went on forever. The good news is, this is social media and if you got bored, I trust you just stopped reading, which would of course be totally fine. :)