It is a matter of who gets to define the words in the lexicon, so to speak. Conservative now means Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and most of the writers at National Review. We who see ourselves simply as Conservatives are now Right-Wing Extremists.
They did it with the whole Red State/ Blue State thing: Historically, red was the color of communism, better dead than red, etc. Blue was the color of conservatives, although not in any official way. But the election reports drew Democrat states in blue, Republican states in red, and started refering to them by that designation. It's very subtle, almost to the point of being a conspiracy theory, which we all know that conspiracy theorists are nutcases. But who doesn't think that the ad agencies and political consultants were working on this stuff well in advance?
“...Red State/Blue State thing ...”
I had noticed that about the colors as well and was disturbed by it. I wish the leadership at the time hadn’t allowed it to happen.