Not to mention it was mostly the "radical conservative base" that handed Martinez his primary victory against Bill McCollum. Go back to the 2004 primary and you'll find legions of freepers beating up on McCollum as a "gun-grabbing, darling of the homosexual movement RINO" and hailing Martinez as the "true conservative" in the race.
Useful idiots, obviously, but members of the "conservative base" nonetheless.
It’s that Big Tent thingy gone awry.. for all those that get coaxed and recruited to hoist the rainbow banner, that many more are leaving that no feel that they any longer count for anything more than a ‘sure’ vote.
A jaded electorate is hard to win back. We’ll see what develops next summer, should be interesting.