One Key Distinction between the average conservative and liberal....

[0rganism]

5. you're on the right track, maybe take a look at it from the "cheap labor" angle

liberals think hard-working taxpayers should be fairly compensated for their efforts, with salaries and benefits sufficient to become active participants in the economy.

conservatives believe the wealthy should be able to freely exploit the less fortunate for profit, with salaries and benefits comparable to those of 3rd-world workers with whom they are seen as competing.

http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/55

Another big difference is the movement conservatives' approach to honesty. The rank-and-file conservative views politics as a hustle and democracy as a pyramid scheme intrinsically and sees anyone pushing for untainted straightforward government as either contemptibly naive or extraordinarily deceitful. They respect effective snake-oil salesmen, and only give credence to leaders perceived as having bought into "the game" enough to reach positions of prominence.

http://www.thebaffler.com/past/the_long_con

Finally, despite their perpetual appeals to abstract notions of "freedom" and "liberty", most conservatives are distrustful of real freedom and liberty when exercised by commoners. They are, in fact, authoritarians who rely on charismatic leaders for their marching orders, or (a minority) authoritarian leaders themselves. For a very insightful read, I suggest Altmeyer's The Authoritarians, in which he carefully analyzes dependent personalities and those who prey upon them. You will find him aptly describing the conservatives you know.

http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf