This comes from local DC talk show host Chris Core (AM 630).

http://www.630wmal.com/goout.asp?u=http://images.radcity.net/5159/2382277.pdf

1) A strong national defense is the first purpose of government.

2) Personal freedom and personal responsibility should go hand in hand, and both should be maximized.

3) Equality of opportunity should be inherent, not artificially derived.

4) Judicial decisions should be based on a strict adherence to the constitution.

5) Government should have limited intervention in economic activity and commerce.

6) Individual rights are best protected at the most local level of government.

Just to make clarifications, individual rights include are right to life, liberty, and property as defined in amendment 5 and 14 in the Constitution. And economics is the study of the use of scarce resources that have alternative uses. Seriously, if you can't agree with all of these basic principles, then you are not conservative.

The difference occurs mostly in method. For example, Ron Paul believes that we should pull out of Iraq because it isn't doing a damn thing to help with #1. Most other conservatives believe in the opposite.

This comprehensive list offers, what I think, is the best and most fundamental standards that conservatives should adhere to. Beyond that, it's merely a question of what works and what doesn't. As long as you have your core principles reflecting these, then you should not have a problem with being a conservative.