Meh, he was a poor candidate and ran a incompetent, mistake prone campaign. The fact he got as far as he did just shows how much opposition there is to socialized medicine in this country. He did sort of redeem himself there at the end with the first debate but it was no where near enough to change what had come before during the campaign.
The other candidates were far worse but that doesn't show that conservatives need to abandon their positions it shows they need to find more attractive representatives. Imagining otherwise is just wishful thinking in my humble opinion.