"I plan on holding my nose and voting for GW but I know that I will have regrets. Does GW just assume that his base is a given?"
He certainly can feel a little more comfortable than his father did. Conservatives failed to "hold their nose" in '92 and look at the results of that election. People with principles must be kept in line somehow, in this tweedledee-tweedledum election process.
When is he going to listen to his base?
I plan on holding my nose and voting for GW but I know that I will have regrets.
You just answered your own question. He'll never listen to his base because of dumba$$es like you who would vote for him regardless of what he does.