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One of the tenets I believe is that liberals and conservatives have built-in approaches to problems, which usually results in something that doesn't work.
Two examples. First is the emergency preparedness plan my university is developing. It's billed as a plan for almost anything, but it's really what the university will do if someone comes onto campus and starts shooting up the joint. The liberal approach (which the university is taking) is to let the authorities handle it. It's a complex early-warning and communication system that cannot possibly work. Suppose Joe Nutcase walks into a classroom with a Glock 9mm and four extra clips. It would be about a minute before anyone in the building would know what was happening, another minute to get the news out, and maybe (at best) five minutes before the cops come. By then it's all over. Try it. Walk around your living room for a minute pointing your finger and going "bang." You can kill a lot of knicknacks in a minute.
How would conservatives respond? By putting an armed guard in the hall, or a man with a doberman patrolling the hall, gun at the ready. Would this work? There are two possibilities: yes (but probably not), in which case we've got a police state, or no (probably) because Joe Nutcase will simply target the cop first.
The other example is the mess we are in with money. The university has to cut a zillion dollars from its budget RIGHT NOW, and plans to do so by cutting everybody's salary by a little. This is the liberal option: punish everybody a little. The conservative option would be to save most of us and sacrifice a few-- just get rid of 'em.
Quite frankly, I don't like either option in either case.