“ Conservatives with gay children are for marriage equality, conservatives with relatives who have alzheimer’s disease are for stem-cell research, conservatives with drug problems are for drug-treatment programs over incarceration, and now conservatives with new babies are for paid maternity leave. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if conservatives could see the value of a particular social program without first having the need for it touch them in some personal way? When will conservatives make the empathy leap? Is it really that hard for a conservative to imagine having a gay child or a loved one stricken with a terminal illness or a drug problem or a baby?