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Conservativism is, and always has been, exactly the same. There are no objectively conservative values. Conservativism is defined by first defining the Self, and then drawing a circle around the Self to identify the policies and positions most important to the self. These policies and positions are negotiable at any time, and anything done or said by a conservative that benefits the Self is good. Anything said or done by the Other in opposition to the Self is bad. This includes taking any policy position that doesn't necessarily help the Self directly, but does not hurt the Self and drives voters or donors to support the Self.
There has never been a Conservative for whom these guidelines did not apply. Not one. They dress their views in stoicism or austerity or nationalism or xenophobia or bigotry, but they are always at their core a form of malignant narcissism. That's why Conservatives get abortions, raise taxes, support immigration, support government handouts, increase government spending, promote federal power, or find themselves on the progressive side of any particular issue when it is good for them.
It's how they can lie or cheat or steal or kill, and claim to occupy the moral high ground. They commit these sins in the name of the Self, and the Self is good, so their actions are good. When the Other does those same things tomorrow, they are evil because the Other is evil because they are not the Self.
That's it. There's no additional logic, no metrics or thresholds or tolerance or foundational beliefs. Just Me.
It has always been thus.
Talking about conservatives being self centered...
A conservative friend of mine was a bit shaken when I told him he shouldn't be wishing for elections to come soon in Canada because the Conservatives will probably get elected and that I know we're probably both losing our governmental job the day they get in power and that contrary to him I don't have a kid to feed. Hell, he's probably more likely to lose his job than I am and he knows it. He didn't say a thing for the rest of the day.
I view conservatism as a kind of nostalgia for how the world was when we were too young to understand it. Conservatives are generally frightened by the complexities of society, frightened by change because they don't know where that change comes from and they don't understand how that change can improve things. They want a simple world with simple rules, so they rely on religion, authoritarian leaders or any social order that will treat them like children because deep down they don't want to be responsible adults.
So that might be coherent with you point that they are self centered: like young children, they think of themselves first and never really grow up to realize that they are part of a world where they need to coexist with diverse people.
That being said, if conservatives like Cheney announce they will vote for Harris, it can only help: maybe it will convince other Republicans to do the same. But I don't see this as a change of allegiance for Cheney, she's still Republican.