Compassionate Conservative

I've always wondered why more people didn't question G.W. Bush's use of the term "compassionate conservative". In fact, many thought it was a great term and latched on to it as a "new" type of conservative. To me, that term would infer that the typical conservative is uncompassionate. To have to brand yourself a "compassionate" conservative would mean that all of the other conservatives have no feelings, no kindness, no mercy, or no humanity towards their fellow man. To have to call yourself a "compassionate conservative" just shows how being a conservative means to be heartless. I guess that's why conservatives like to call liberals "bleeding hearts", because liberals are considerate, and caring, and kind (compassionate) - as if that's a bad thing. Maybe GW just wanted to draw a distinction between himself and the typical conservative, Dick Cheney.