[Man50D]

No, you can't, because when you specify a relative term, there is always either an explicit or an implicit scale.

Whose scale is used and what are the criteria? There is no standard scale set in writing that all agree defines Conservatism. This thread wouldn't have been posted if there was one standard scale. What is implicit or explicit to one person will not necessarily be so to another and once again it reverts back to a gray area that is undefinable and very subjective. In the end everyone has their own scale without any definition.

[LexBaird]

Whose scale is used and what are the criteria? There is no standard scale set in writing that all agree defines Conservatism

Yep. That's why it must always be put in terms of a reference point. Candidate X is more conservative than candidate Y, but less so than Q or I. After those references are set, a group consensus forms over what is normal for that group.

Romney is not as conservative as FReepers, but more conservative than Dems. That sentence only has meaning because we know what the referents "FReepers" and "Dems" are like.