If his parents are conservatives, they bid Timmy a cheerful "B-Bye!" and keep right on strolling.  Within a couple of minutes, Timmy will decide that coming along is more fun than sitting alone on the curb, and will run to catch up.

If his parents are liberals, the whole family will stop while the parents console and encourage Timmy until he is ready to proceed once more.  This will only take a couple of minutes, and the stroll will continue.

Apparently, both methods work.  The difference is what happens on the next walk.  Y'see, the Timmy with the liberal parents has now learned that throwing a temper tantrum gets him attention, so he will do it again -- and he will continue to throw bigger and more elaborate tantrums as long as it works.  Meanwhile, the Timmy with the conservative parents will never pull that shit again.

Yet, while the method used by the conservative family is clearly the one with long-term results, they are constantly berated by liberals for being cruel and heartless.  "You just left Timmy there?  How could you?  What if he never caught up?  He could have been emotionally scarred for life!  There oughta be a law prohibiting such mistreatment!"

Would the conservative family have reacted differently if little Timmy had fallen down and broken his leg?  Of course; they're not heartless, that's just liberal propaganda.

Will the liberal family ever learn how to get Timmy to quit throwing tantrums?  Sure -- and that's why people tend to get more conservative as they get older: because they learn.