There's a similar (though less polemic)
article over at Bloomberg. They did a focus group study with NH voters, and it boils down to the same things:
1. He has an opinion. Voters, especially on the Right, have never been a fan of nuance.
2. He shows no fear and does not backtrack.
3. He's "strong", whatever that means. Conservatives have always liked strongmen.
Of course, their study is undercut by the fact that all their study members self-identified as Tea Partiers.
"He's like one of us. He may be a millionaire, which seperates him from everybody else, but besides the money issue, he's still in tune with what everybody is wanting," Janet, a former dog breeder, said.
I'm just going to assume that Janet is a
former dog breeder because getting dogs to fuck was too difficult an intellectual challenge for her.
Like it or not (and hey, as an Anti-Republican, I'm loving it like McDonald's) Donald Trump is going to be on the debate stage one week from today. Given the basis of his support, I think you're only going to see his poll numbers increase, even as he hardens and shrinks the upper limit of that support. People who buy into the macho asshole bravado will buy harder, while the rest of us will entrench our disdain for Trump that much stronger. Great strategy for winning a primary full of fucktards who lap that shit up for breakfast, but bad strategy for the general election.
Best line of the day comes from one of John Kasich's campaign advisers:
Imagine a NASCAR driver mentally preparing for a race knowing one of the drivers will be drunk. That's what prepping for this debate is like.