The polls showed three primary bases of support for Mrs. Clinton: women, Hispanics and older voters.
The antigovernment conservatives and the unions have built institutions and bases of support.
"My sisters, be bases of support and safety for your husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons.
Small-market teams, especially those that have not had much postseason success lately, tend to have small bases of support.
"What other guerrilla force asks its bases of support about what it should do before doing it?
As Labour becomes estranged from its bases of support, it draws more and more on the self-selecting Westminster cliques that now dominate the top of the party.
Strategically, he said, the candidates are focusing on the city's most devoted Democratic voters, and their own bases of support: lawyers for Mr. Yassky, women for Ms. Katz.
Gaddafi still has a base of support, or – just as dangerously – groups that will be perceived by the victorious rebels as bases of support.
Western diplomats and Pakistani experts say the latest attacks may be a last desperate effort by militants slowly losing their bases of support in the region.
As a result, neither candidate seems to consider the outcome a foregone conclusion, and both are trying to strengthen their bases of support.
Already, though, both sides are in full campaign mode, seeking to win over public opinion and shore up their respective bases of support rather than find common ground.
