...making Romney (one of the most liberal governors in the history of the most liberal state of Massachusetts) a conservative, while at the same time doing everything in his power to paint Conservative Christian Pastor Mike Huckabee as a liberal.
I don't think he painted him as a liberal. He got into a personal skunk spraying contest with Huckabee's campaign (or possibly a strawman posing as Huckabee's campaign) and ended up saying that nominating Huckabee would "destroy the Republican party".
I don't like the way Rush treated Huckabee, even though Huckabee is flawed and deserving of criticism. I'm not sure about the word "conservative" anymore. Conservativism should describe a mindset or worldview, not an ideology. Conservatism has to be more than just a list of issues or ranking based on a voting record. To me "conservative" has never been merely the opposite of "liberal".
I have been thinking the same thing. My values have not changed, but I will not define myself as a conservative any more if the word is now a synonym for being a sore loser whiner that wants Obama to be President, rather than voting for an imperfect candidate that at least recoginizes the fact that we are at war.