“They’re not going to want someone as reckless or as extreme as Donald Trump, but they are going to want someone that is charismatic and can hold the stage, that is successful in navigating the media landscape and that has an entertainment factor to them,” Avenatti said. “No policy wonk is going to beat Donald Trump. And we’ve seen what he has done with your traditional politicians.”

Potential hopefuls such as Avenatti are a direct response to Trump and the current political climate. Others, like Baldwin, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and JPMorgan Chase executive Jamie Dimon — who recently said and then retracted remarks that he could beat Trump because he is “smarter” — seem to fall into the Why Not Me camp.

Still others are famous for being political outsiders, such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, dismissed by one Trump ally as “what’s-his-name the Starbucks guy.” And then there are the perennial dabblers in presidential politics such as former New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.