The import of Donald Trump

It still seems quite unlikely to me that Trump survives much past Super Tuesday, much less wins anything.  Still, he has done far better than virtually anyone expected.

So in equilibrium I expect another embodiment of his ideas to surface politically, without all of the surrounding personal outrageousness.

Think of him as a trial balloon.  It’s still floating.

We might also see, for the next election cycle, further entry from rich people who mimic the outrageousness of Trump but not the particular ideas.  The signal extraction problem from Trump’s continuing float is not yet solved.

In these senses the media is not wrong to focus on him.  What he embodies — no matter how you interpret it — is what is new this election cycle.  And the multiplicity of possible interpretations make it all the more fodder for the media mill.