It's widely recognized as a certification of someone who is reliably conservative, both religiously and politically.

He encountered strong resistance from the Department of Justice leadership, which feared that Starr might not be reliably conservative as a Supreme Court justice.

On issues involving criminal law and procedure, Burger remained reliably conservative.

The area was reliably conservative when Mr. Solomon was first elected in 1978.

Bean's victory was considered to be a decisive upset in a district once considered to be reliably conservative.

His voting record was reliably conservative.

Conveniently, this "third-party verifier," the reliably conservative Washington Times, is never identified.

Smith was a relatively low-profile congressman for most of his career, compiling a reliably conservative voting record despite representing a fairly marginal district.

Legal author Jeffrey Toobin says Bush and others saw Thomas as the only "plausible" black candidate who would provide a reliably conservative vote.

Even the reliably conservative Times-Picayune ran a heated front-page editorial on Sunday, blasting the federal response to a disaster caused by one of its own agencies.