“The GOP has deserted the base and the next president will be a democrat.”
Several conservative candidates have been in the primaries, but attracted few votes. (Near as I can remember, those candidates were members of the GOP.)
Therefore, I would say the primary voters deserted the conservative GOP candidates.
It is therefore more logical to blame the voters. Florida Jan. 29th and California Feb. 5th will be Republican voters only in the GOP side of the primary.
That ought to give folks a clear look at the sentiments of the majority of GOP voters.
More votes matters. I can’t call immediately to mind the universally agreed definition of “the base.”
Back during the Reagan conservative era, it was widely recognized he showed people which ideas worked best for the economy, and against communism.
He convinced people, he converted moderates, independents, democrats to his way of thinking. He taught. He reminded. He showed examples. He didn’t call people names.
Conservatives seem to have completely lost common sense, replacing mature civility and persuasion, with adolescent name calling. And thereby converting nobody, but repelling many.
So if you want things to wind up being more conservative, go out and persuade your neighbors and friends why conservative ideas are the best. Convince them to vote conservative (usally means Republican)
Even if you think they are stupid, your chances of getting them to vote the way you want is to hold your tongue, refrain from calling them stupid.
Who knows? They might even vote conservative several times in a row, after your friendly and persuasive nudge to do so the first time.
Perhaps Conservatives need to concentrate on the House and Senate races. That is where the major battles will be fought.