Members of the media, colleagues and opponents described Bradley as a moderate in the Republican Party when he was elected in 2002. He sided with his party by supporting the war in Iraq, the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the prohibition of federal funding of overseas abortion, the $5 billion subsidy for the Chinese nuclear program. However, he opposed President Bush's energy bill and supported the Medicare Part D prescription drug subsidy. He has cosponsored bills to loosen regulations on embryonic stem cell research.