I get what the connotations are but it’s like “pro-life.” The implication is opponents are “anti-life” or “pro-death” and so the entire conversation is immediately lopsided/in some ways poisoned and dishonest.

When you look at the conservative platform it’s all like this. “I am for families.” So that means opponents are against families. It’s very broad statements that make - when looked at closely - kind of ridiculous statements about their opponents. So if there is “real” conservative, which is usually a stand in for “reasonable,” I don’t actually know what their policies are. They used to hide behind “fiscal responsibility” but that was always dubious and their last 20 years of spending have eradicated any argument they make about spending lol