...and a "conservative" position on something as fundamental as this has evidently changed.

Traditionally an argument that governance and decision-making should be reserved to the educated/intelligent, in order to prevent "mob rule," would have been a "conservative" position. A progressive or "liberal" counter-argument would have been that the electorate should be as broad as possible, to include the voices of all citizens, whether wealthy, educated, "intelligent," or not. Now it seems that a change is occurring. "Progressives" complain about the ignorant masses interfering with their progressive agenda and "conservatives" respond by defending the right of the working class to outvote those who claim to be their intellectual superiors.

Maybe Plato's political theory isn't quite dead yet.

Interesting times...