Trump Is Not a Candidate but a Core Group Within the Party Establishment

Trump represented a core group within the Republican Party which in our system is enough to win the nomination. But being a plurality winner in a field of 16 candidates doesn't necessarily say that much about a candidate's popularity. The biggest negative impact is that there is no longer any place in the system where there is peer review. In other words where a potential president is evaluated by people who know politics and government.