Extremism Cost Conservatives the U.S. Presidency

I thank my esteemed opponent for his acceptance.To reiterate (and clarify) then, we are discussing extremism in the descriptive, not the normative sense. One of my favorite quotes (and part of my signature on DDO) is of Barry Goldwater from the 1964 presidential campaign: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.” To which I usually add: “Except that in a democracy it often loses elections.”Main argument:My argument is, simply, that on enough hot button issues the GOP took an extreme (and, in at least several cases, absolutist) position, and that this position alienated enough voters in swing states this was enough to cost the GOP presidential ticket the race.It is my contention that this election was the conservatives to lose, and they, indeed, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with their (in my opinion, unnecessarily) extremist positions on several ideological issues. Had the former governor of Massachusetts been allowed to run as the moderately conservative politician that he probably is, he would have won this election easily.Supporting arguments: 1. Since the economy was the most important issue to most voters,[citation available, if requested] And the Romney Ryan [RR] ticket was more trusted on that issue, though by a small margin,[citation available, if requested] the RR ticket should have done better in the election.2. First example: AbortionA large percentage of Americans [over 70%] consistently have said that some or all abortions should be legal. Over 15% consistently have said that a candidate's position on abortion determines their vote for or against that candidate.[1]By simple math, then: over 15% of over 70% would vote against the candidate who seems to have a position against their own on abortion. Conservatively, that would make over 9% of voters susceptible to voting against the Romney/Ryan ticket on the basis of their association with this absolutist position of the Republican party (and the extremists driving the conservative agenda since at least 2009 or so.) While Romney/Ryan tried to run away from the association with this position, a reasonable person would say that many undecided voters, especially women were likely to be effected by it--especially as Ryan agrees with it, and Romney has shown a willingness to change his position. (A realist would say he changes it based on political expediency, IMHO.)If one only looks at undecided voters at the beginning of 2012 and at the time of the election, one would likely find several percent of voters who would fall into the category described above. (They say they would vote against a candidate based on his/her position on abortion.)Conclusion for this round:If my opponent or the DDO voters accept this line of argument, then all that is left to me is to provide the statistical evidence in enough swing states and on enough issues. (I’m guessing the abortion/woman’s-right-to-some-choice in her reproductive decisions post-intercourse issue would be enough to make the election at least a toss up in swing states.)An attempt at removing a possible counter-argument:Saying "extremism provided conservatives a motivated base" only shows how important extremism, as opposed to tactical politics necessary to win elections, was in driving the conservative agenda in 2012. Comparable extremists on the liberal side were able to sublimate their positions on a number of issues to accept a compromise position from the democratic ticket. (For example, there were many supporters of “single payer” health care who held their noses and voted for Obama Biden--especially in swing states. I know of a number of my liberal/progressive friends in California who bragged about voting for the Green Party ticket, and suggested others should “send a message,” because it was a safe throwaway of their vote.)Citations:[1] http://www.gallup.com...