Good luck to the Jebster going ahead without the base.
Dole, McCain and Milt got the nomination without the base.
Oh, he'll go ahead alright, all the way to the GOP convention. November, not so much...
Jebster does not need the base. Cruz, Walker, Pence, Jindal, Huckabee, Santorum, Paul etc will divide the base enough and clear the path for Jebster.
Huckster will get the fundies,
Santorum will get the church ladies,
Walker will get the anti-union vote,
Paul will get the small government libertarians,
Cruz will get the Southern conservative vote,
Pence will get the mid-west conservative vote,
Jindal will get those who value high IQ and attention to detail.
So, all Jebster needs is the moderate republicans to win nomination. Then he will lose to Hillary in November because all those who did not get their first choice win will stay home.
Mittster in the race was the best hope for conservative by dividing moderates between Mittster and Jebster. Now it looks a whole nunch better for the Jebster.