I’m not so sure it will scare off too many conservatives, especially ones who think we should have already taken Iran to the woodshed by now. But it was not the lofty rhetoric that people remember, like calling Rudy McRomeny the Kennedy wing of the party.
Of course not, but that's not all of who he needs to build even a Republican majority. To even win the nomination, conservatives must believe that he can win the general election. That may be his greatest hurdle.
Look at Tom McClintock in California. Internal polling strongly indicated that he was the preferred candidate if the people had voted according to their hearts, even over Arnold, but Tom lost to Arnold by a wide margin because conservatives had bought the old canard, "he can win."