Unquestionably, Reagan carried Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Maine, Wisconsin, and possibly other states only because Anderson was in the race, so in that way, Anderson definitely did hurt Carter more than Reagan.
I can see that you are obsessed by Romney, and that explains many of your posts. I don't see what it means to say Romney was more liberal than Anderson, though. Times and issues have changed so much that such a comparison isn't very meaningful.
Suffice it to say, John Anderson was endorsed by the very liberal New Republic in 1980. This year they were violently opposed to Mitt Romney.
By offering a Romneylike republican, Anderson helped bring out anti-Reagan voters who would have set at home.
Speaking of obsessions, one of us is a conservative fighting for conservatism and to make sure that a man who didn’t even belong in republican politics, doesn’t get white washed and become a GOP leader and continue to contaminate the party with his bizarre left wing politics and ideas, and you are obsessed with advancing him and protecting his dark and sinister influence.
Lifetime republican, Anderson was to the right of Romney, but they were both anti-Reagan.