So why has Trump, on a relatively small budget and with a tiny campaign staff, done so well, while his competitors have failed so miserably?

Well, first, because he is a real outsider who represents real change.

So many voters are so completely fed up with the political class (and the conservative intelligentsia that supports them) that they saw Trump as the only candidate who could blow up the status quo.

I know many of those who voted for Trump, and they are by no means stupid, irrational, racist or anti-democratic. They are frustrated with politics as usual and they are taking their constitutional rights seriously by voting for change.

Second, Trump says what many of us have come to believe is true: that the Iraq War was a tragic mistake that shouldn’t be replicated. He was the only candidate to be so explicit in his denunciation, and I think it helped him with a big chunk of voters.

Third, he has a clear message on the economy that resonates: The middle class is getting screwed because the political class is looking out for their interests rather than for the broader interests of the American people.