"The political center." People who sway with the breeze. No convictions.
You've now identified the issue......now what's the solution.
First, demean those who are not just like you, yielding a sense of superiority.
Next, discount their importance, leading to ignoring them.
Finally, rest assured that to lose with "convictions" is the most noble position of all.
And one has a picture of the "true conservatives" at this juncture.
Later one ponders how to regain their just political power, and can only conclude overlooking these inferior ones earned predictable results.
Then begins the more rational process towards winning back enough support from these voters, notwithstanding their peculiar and undesirable nature.
The whole effect of this scenario goes back and forth, by both sides. In effect these centrists, often disrespected by first one and then the other side, hold the greatest political power of all.
So every time somebody discounts their importance, remember they are the most powerful force in American politics.