Donald Trump

Donald Trump's campaign matters. Not because he has a serious or credible candidacy, not because he's even remotely qualified to be President, and not because he has the slightest idea of what he's doing. Trump's campaign matters because of what it means for the Republican Party as a whole.

At first glance, his popular support is staggering. It becomes easier to understand once you take a look at his campaign strategy, which stands in stark contrast to the rest of the field. Simply put, Trump relies on saying as many outlandish things as he can (which he all but confirmed with his rant against political correctness at the recent debate) to get as much media buzz as possible.

That said, there's a method to his madness. A lot of his polling strength is from name recognition and his constant presence in the media, but not all of it. Donald Trump's outbursts, rants, and diatribes are all engineered perfectly to appeal to the extremes of the Republican Party.

Trump represents the crackpot Republicans. He was one of the loudest voices in the "birther" controversy several years back (which he's still sticking to), and is undoubtedly coming out strongest on immigration policy. There are some Republicans upset with the attempts by the party to pivot to a more palatable policy, and Donald Trump is the most boisterous opponent to these attempts.

Donald Trump is the worst parts of the Republican Party rolled into one person, and mulitplied tenfold. He is loud, wholly uncompromising, and unwilling to reason or change in any way. His debate performance was half incoherent ramblings, and half mindless pandering rhetoric. When asked about his past disparaging comments towards women by Megyn Kelly, he dodged the question and turned into a cheap shot at Rosie O'Donnell and was rewarded with wild laughter and applause.

Trump isn't winning right now because of his ideas. He's not winning because of what he believes, what he plans to do, or who he is. He's winning because his bombastic rhetoric is connecting with voters in a way that nobody else's is. Trump doesn't play safe. He barrels forward with no regard to the future. He's riding his wave of popularity and hoping it doesn't crest too soon.

Most voters will move on from Trump eventually. Republican Presidential Primaries have a long history of flavor-of-the-month candidates rising for a short time, confusing it for long-lasting support, and bowing out before they ever really started. This year will be no different.