The Base did not elect Trump. Had Hillary been elected, it would not have been her base that elected her.
No “Base” ever provides more than 35% of the vote. To be elected, every successful candidate needs the MOR swing voters. One thing that is important to any such voter is stability... because they equate that with safety. (See Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.)
Our President will keep his “base.” As Newt says however, he needs to work a bit on the MOR voters who elected him.
Which is why it’s great news that since the election the GOP registrations in 12/14 battleground states have SOARED relative to Ds, and that right now Trump would win with 10-20 more electoral votes than in 2016.
As of today, given new registrations, he’d win NH, MN, and likely NM with NV and ME right on the cusp. And this is assuming he’s made NO new converts—which is utterly silly.
I challenge people to do this all the time. How many Trump voters do you know who have deserted him? (Me? 0-—and I speak to GOP groups all around the Southwest, hundreds. Not one, ever).
Now, how many Hillary voters do you know who now like Trump?
Me: 1.
I have yet to find anyone who answers anything other than zero for question one, and MANY who have positive numbers for question two.
Polls absolutely don’t get this cause they are still in 2016 D/R identification mold. They were wrong then, but are even more in error now because of the . . . voter registration changes.