No, I think the analogy holds, regardless of the visibility of Moore. The Right has a virtual monopoloy on the radio for the type of hysterics that Rush and Oliver North bring to the table. That fires up the conservative base, and they can get away with a lot more than the visible part of the party would allow themselves to.
The Dems used Moore to fire up their base in much the same way, only he was more visible at the convention, because, quite frankly, as part of the Dem's core base, I wanted to see him there.
The Right needed to bring in more moderates, so they needed to keep the Rush's and the Ralph Reed's behind the curtain. The Dems needed to bring in the Greens and the students, a base that would be attracted to Moore.