I am always confused about the nature of the conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats. I do know that when Zer0 was elected and reelected, millions of conservatives, evangelicals and Reagan Democrats who stayed home. 25% of general election voters are evangelicals. In political terms, 20% of self-identified Republicans stated that they considered themselves as Tea Party Conservatives. The Tea Party has eroded in support in recent years. Conservatives, however, poll at 38% of the electorate. This is a mix of factions that make a narrow base if they are not energized. We must include the Reagan Democrats, which are also part of the Republican base. These voters must not be ignored or they will stay home. If anyone stays home, the Republican base will make little impact on the vote.
If anyone has a better take on what is the Republican base, I want to see it. That will make a good contribution to the discussion.
Religious conservatives consist of many different types of faiths and backgrounds. Evangelical protestants probably make up the largest chunk of religious voters, but there are also numerous Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Orthodox Jew, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., voters who support pro-life and pro-family candidates in the primary. Most of these religions are about as far away from "evangelical" in their theology as it gets, no matter how much the media likes to pretend that all religious conservatives are "evangelicals"
A similar thing can said for the "Tea Party". The goals of the Tea Party are shared by many conservatives, e.g., their main reason for formation was to make a serious attempt to roll back big government largess and root out corruption in politics that makes politicians out of touch with the grassroots. Probably 95% of GOP voters would agree with those goals. But people like me who agree with those goals are not necessarily Tea Party members. I certainly have not joined any local Tea Party organization or supported any national Tea Party group. The actual "Tea Party" organizations have often been taken over by Paulbots and GOP establishment types, so much so that the "Tea Party" label has been virtually meaningless. Anyone and everyone can claim to be "Tea Party".
If I was to describe my background, I am both a fiscally and socially conservative Catholic, and I'm strongly leaning Ted Cruz at this time.
I would also argue most of the “Reagan Democrats” don’t exist anyone. Reagan put together that coalition over 35 years ago. The Democrats who switched to Reagan in 1980 have either permanently switched parties years ago and are now Reagan Republicans, or they are now deceased. There are very few conservative blue-collar Democrats left. They’ve virtually become an endangered species in the south, for example.