Before wringing your hands and saying nothing like this has ever happened before, Popkin brings up the ’60s. “The Republicans are behaving the way the Democrats did in the ’60s. Young people wanted to talk about race and gender, and old people wanted to talk about union wages. Young people wanted to talk about feminism and police brutality, and forget about the unions.” Economic issues got lost, and cultural issues held sway. Oh, and the Democrats lost…

While “horrified” by much of what Trump says, Popkin can’t help but admire the sophistication of the way he demolishes other candidates, and has remade the GOP in his image. “It’s his party now. He’s not filtering it and that may make it impossible to get beyond 30 percent of the electorate, but it’s enough to get power within the party. He matters whether or not he gets the nomination.”

Trump has tapped into a sense of grievance about a lost America in an increasingly multicultural country. “He is out in the open about the discomfort of having so many Spanish speaking people in the country,” says Popkin. And whatever happens to Trump in the nominating process, he’s hurt the GOP’s already diminished brand when it comes to minority voters. “There’s no way to kiss and make up with Hispanics, to say we’re sorry we didn’t stop this sooner.”