But Justice Kennedy has often broken with conservative dogma.

That is because time and again, he has demonstrated that he believes partisan cohesion is more important than conservative dogma.

Instead, the competition will be over who can pronounce the conservative dogmas most quickly - and most convincingly.

"They're going to probably give conservative dogma interspersed with talk about wine," he said.

Second, he ignored conservative dogma about deference to the states, especially on matters like regulating medical practice, a core state concern.

But on a few others, he takes positions that depart from pure conservative dogma and demonstrate a desire to position himself as an independent thinker.

But the political environment is so polarized these days that top executives are often afraid to speak up against conservative dogma.

Did he lose because he had broken with conservative dogma, or because he had been co-opted by it?

That's been conservative dogma for decades, with a powerful hold over many Americans.

Mr. Reagan's arguments that tax cuts would increase growth and Government revenue dovetailed perfectly with conservative dogma.