>> You can't win nationally with 35% of the vote and giving up the large coastal and upper midwestern states.
I bet you'll get a bigger swing of voters towards the Conservative rather than the moderate. And, I wouldn't be surprised if the Conservative vote were solid along the Coastal and North Eastern states. In my opinion, Republican voters are done with warbling media-star Republicans. It's getting more difficult for the moderate Republican to pass the smell test.
And you would be wrong; utterly and completely WRONG!