The numbers are the opposite of what you said. About 35-40% identify as
Conservative and 25% as liberal. Elections change sides because of turnout. There are a few that flop around in the middle. Conservatives have a definite advantage in national elections, but haven’t had anyone to be excited about for awhile.
Least we could do is try running a REAL conservative under either the LP or Con Party banner and see if we can create a sea change.
This is all predicated on Romney scoring the GOP-e nomination. If Newt gets the nod at a brokered Convention... This is all moot. Newt is, arguably, more conservative than even Bush 43 was. Palin would still win on conservative bona fides... but the case is harder to make against Newt than Willard.
I explicitly assumed party affiliations and not the far more subjective liberal-conservative classification. How do you classify a person who is socially conservative and fiancially liberal? Many people vote the straight party line ticket. Moreover, many people who assert they are independent do so to enhance their self image as being intelligent and highly thoughtful.