Bode generously conceded that George McGovern "was a liberal," but then insisted: "Dukakis was no liberal and neither was Mondale. Both of them had several people to the left in those primaries. It was what the Republicans did to them once they got the nomination that made them seem to be liberals in both cases." By that reasoning, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and George W. Bush cannot be considered conservative since they had people to their right in their primaries. But you'll never hear Bode or any other journalist suggest any such thing though, compared to Alan Keyes, George W. Bush is not conservative.