Following the Republicans’ losses this year there has been a lot of inside the beltway talk about whether or not the party will moderate its positions to try to appeal to a broader share of the electorate. Ultimately, though, the decision rests mainly in the hands of rank and file Republicans. They are the ones who vote in primaries. That is how the people representing the party are chosen and the it’s main way elected Republicans are punished for disagreeing with the base.

As it currently stands, regular Republicans have no desire to see the party moderate. According to Pew Research, 60 percent of self-described Republicans want to see the party’s leadership move in a more conservative direction. From Pew:

As long as the rank and file members don’t want their party to move to the center, it isn’t going to moderate. While opinions could change going forward, this recent loss was not enough to convince the Republican base that their party needs to really change.