Which of these is more important in presidential elections?

[AelroseB]

For the past few decades, as the electorate has moved is large swaths towards one of the two main parties, we only truly see about five percent of voting Americans (note, not 5% of registered voters) who are neither party members nor independents who lean towards one party or the other (as most independents do).  With that said, appealing to your base is much more important than reaching out to other voters--in any federal or statewide election.