This is why it is important to BOTH sides that Romney LOST: he DID pander to his far right wing base all through the primaries and then suddenly veered to become a moderate after the RNC convention. If he had been rewarded for running one way for 2 years to cement his base and then a totally different way in the last 2 months to get moderate voters, future elections would make this one look like it was between George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington vs "Honest" Abe Lincoln.
What Romney tried to do was ridiculous, and highly cynical even in a political arena built upon cynicism. Unfortunately, this strategy got him close enough to winning that it will likely will get pulled out of someone's...hat...again.