There’s only one fact you need to know to tell you everything that is going on in the Republican Party. Donald Trump received more votes than “establishment” candidates of Rubio and Bush combined.

The Trump Revolution is not unique in its brand of conservative populism. It illuminates a process that has been underway for years. The tone, ideology, and rhetoric are the same; only the degree of emphasis stands out. His political success has less to do with tapping into a deep, simmering mistrust of outsiders and foreigners, than his naked appeal to strong-arm tactics. We have lost the world. So let us reconquer it.

We fail to understand this at our own risk. After every highly publicized feud, the long-awaited hope in his demise is dashed by a tidal wave of support. This should not surprise us in a world where politics is portrayed as a contest of wills. His strength is promised as a cure for our castrated, hopeless, powerless lives. Trump promises to fight for us, then proceeds to do so by picking any number of silly, juvenile public fights. The tough talk is not bluster. He means it. The establishment never has.

And if he survives, if he carves out enough territory that he can’t be denied the party nomination, then none of this war matters. Everyone else will fall in line, because falling in line is what soldiers do. And the best and brightest of us will defend the indefensible.