The "base" is basically "people who don't consume as much Democrat-aligned media". It doesn't matter if Republicans try to appeal people outside the "base", because those people won't get the message. They will only get the message they get from the media, which in almost 100% of cases that I've looked into is completely different from what the Republicans actually said. They have no real choice.
If you're on the highway and you find that everyone else seems to drive on the wrong lane, it may be worth considering if it isn't you who is driving on the wrong lane.
A slim majority is not "everyone else". Your rhetoric marginalizes 40-50% of the country. Why feed into the division and conflict like this? Why have this knee-jerk reaction of hateful dismissal? Don't we need some degree of mutual respect and cooperation?
