Hell, the man was a paragon to conservatism compared to McCain in darn near every respect.
Then, look back in the party history to say, oh, Nixon.
Remember wage and price controls?
No, Romney (and I don't like the ba$tard either) has not been the farthest left GOP Presidential candidate...and some of those to the left him won. Amazingly.
George HW Bush anyone?
Hell, even the son, GW, put conservatism on it's back. He and the GOP Congress set spending records that I thought would never be broken until Obama came along. He even sponsored the "TARP" bill to bail out stupid investors.
What kind of conservative does that?
We have never seen anything like Romney in GOP presidential politics, from his leaving the party over Reagan, to becoming a democrat supporter and voter, and democrat fund raiser, to fund raising for Planned Parenthood.
Even as the GOP nominee he was campaigning against the pro-life platform and running pro-abortion ads, and reaffirming his stance on gay scout leaders and the gay military.