What Explains Donald Trump's Appeal?

It's not hard to explain.

Still, this was a front-page story at yesterday's USA Today.

See, "What explains Donald Trump's appeal?":

If economic inequality is a problem, erosion of traditional values is a fear, and the Hispanic vote is pivotal, what explains the political rise of a twice-divorced, thrice-married, gold-plated New York real estate buccaneer whose previous best-known utterance — "You're fired!" — is rivaled now by inflammatory comments about Mexicans and immigrants?

Donald Trump was second behind Jeb Bush in a CNN/ORC national poll of Republican presidential candidates released last week, and No. 2 in polls in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. "Not unimpressive,'' says Peter Brown of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, "for someone new to electoral politics.''

Brown and other pollsters are quick with caveats: Trump got a bounce, probably ephemeral, from his highly publicized presidential announcement; his share in a crowded GOP field has not topped 12%; and the things that got Trump this far probably ensure he won't get much further.

"Will Trump fizzle?'' asks pollster John Zogby. "I'd bet the Iowa farm on it.''

But Trump has tapped into what the writer Richard Rovere once called "dark places of the American mind'' — fear of, or frustration over, threats abroad and unfairness at home.

With his wealth (he claims to be worth precisely $8,737,540,000), fame (14 seasons on NBC's reality show The Apprentice), and chutzpah ("The American dream is dead … but I will bring it back'') there's no one like Trump in U.S. politics, says historian John Baick — "not now, or ever.''

Analysts and fans say these perceived traits help explain Trump's political appeal...

Click through for all the factors explaining Trump's appeal, including candor, leadership and independence and incorruptibility.

Interestingly, this piece came out before PPP put Trump in first place in North Carolina, getting 16 percent of the support in the GOP field.