At least in America, I can't name a conservative politician that espouses any substantive ideas.
In the thinker category:
Antonin Scalia: Just to understand that a textually sound interpretation of statutes and the Constitution isn't necessarily conservative and is actually an important value.
Irving Kristol: I don't know if he counts as conservative anymore. But, he has a lot of good points about how the welfare state and the basic liberal consensus can be married with a communal sense of responsibility and standards.
Personally, I think social conservatives have much to learn from Antonio Gramsci. His work on cultural hegemony provides a road map to reverse the slide into social liberalism. Gramsci believed that Marxists must work to seize control of cultural institutions in order for Marxism to succeed. The same goes for social conservatives.
That's an interesting point. Unfortunately for conservatives, cultural institutions are largely influenced by educated, cosmopolitan types.
