[Poohbah]

It seems to me that the base was liked and appreciated and relevant in 2000. Has the tent become smaller?

Well, they were liked, and appreciated, and pandered to...

And then they didn't show up on Election Day.

I've seen folks in the self-proclaimed "base" brag about their support for Bush AFTER the damn election, as if that's actually significant. But if they'd turned out in the same pathetically low numbers as they did in 1996, all of those damn rallies would've been unnecessary.

The GOP discovered that NOTHING makes the self-proclaimed "base" happy, so they started ignoring them.

Bush is willing to stick his neck out for the folks who actually voted for him. The loudmouth "base" didn't.

Tough noogies.

The self-proclaimed "base" better learn to be gracious in accepting charity--because that is what they've been getting since 1/20/01. They've gotten a lot of goodies when you consider that they didn't deliver votes.

[Neets]

Tough noogies indeed.

You get what you give.

[chris1]

Excuse me - But you are dead wrong. Look at the 2002 mid term elections. The base came out and we wiped the floor with the Dems. In 2002, the President showed leadership and took the bull by the horns. The Medicare program was brought to the floor by him, the Immigration "proposal" by him, the other liberal garbage, bu him. He will be a one term president unless he changes things around in terms of perception. People have short memories, and I am TELLING YOU LOUDLY & CLEARLY, that I as well as my family members who have voted 100% GOP in all of the previous elections, are pissed off and feel betrayed. Call me whatever name you want, say my "base" vote does not matter, but it is the fact of the matter whether you want to acknowledge it or not.