E.J.’s eulogy for conservatism, prompted by Republicans’ recent support for a minimum wage increase linked with estate tax relief, recognizes that moderates in the largely conservative party have to be accommodated. True. That’s the fate of a governing majority party. The alternative – a destructive purge to purify the ranks of the minority party – is on display in Connecticut. In 2000 House Republicans passed a minimum wage increase coupled with estate tax relief and conservatism survived and elected more of them two years later.