Neither party’s elites represent the majority’s views on an issue such as immigration; Trump does. In a way, he is like Goldwater — a too-extreme version of what, in the future, could be a successful populist orientation for the GOP (when moderated and better thought-out).

Trump often promotes nastiness in pursuit of legitimate policy concerns. Yet his populism also taps into real frustration with two things: first, today’s political correctness and the one-size-fits-all progressive moralism of America’s cultural leaders; second, the paternalistic GOP establishment, which patronizes the nation’s populists for their votes while holding them at arm’s length as if they were rabble.

The problem for Republicans is not how Trump eventually falls from favor, but how to get Trump to go away satisfied so he doesn’t mount a third-party challenge in 2016.

The classic answer is to take the wind out of his sails by co-opting (and moderating) some of his positions, thus not allowing him to be the only candidate tapping into populist frustrations.