How long, I wonder, before the Trump phenomenon reaches our shores, Mr Editor? And I don’t mean the man; I mean his brand of politics.

Unlikely, you say? Well, maybe not. In politics, as in business, as in life really, nothing succeeds like success and by all appearances (and polls), Donald J. Trump appears to be succeeding.

His game plan of huffing and puffing himself up and tearing his opponents down is gaining traction; not that personal attacks are entirely new — there or here. Candidate Trump has simply taken it to a whole new level and the people are loving it, judging from the crowds.

It isn’t just the entertainment factor that captures their attention, which is what some observers thought when he first burst on to the political scene, and who mistakenly thought that he would have the same shelf life as his TV series: this time, The Apprentice for the US presidency and the Big, er, White House.

But hold on, folks; it has now gone way beyond that. Trump is proving himself more than just a P.T. Barnum of American politics; he appears to be mirroring the mood of a very unhappy, angry and disenchanted electorate. These are voters who are done, totally, with what they regard as wishy-washy, flip-flopping politicians who never say what they mean or mean what they say, or, who make promises they don’t keep or, worse still, who deliver just the opposite. Trump even goes farther: they don’t have a clue.

If it all sounds familiar, it should. Trump is a walking, talking blogger who is prepared to put his name to his thoughts — unlike, say, many of the outspoken here who apparently find courage writing behind pseudonyms.

In fact, his style of campaigning feeds right into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, all of which he puts to constant and effective use. The medium has also become the message — shout out here to Marshall McLuhan, remember him? Never mind whether his posts are the subject of dislikes or likes, “The Donald” is front and centre, which is where he wants to be; ahead of the pack, which he also wants to be.

Egomania aside, the further attraction is that, with every pronouncement, he distances himself from the political establishment and establishes himself firmly as his own man, an independent voice who is not tied, bound or beholden to any special interests. The anti-politician, as it were, who says out loud what people are thinking and who cannot be constrained and who will not be restrained by convention or so-called political correctness.

His campaign may be a sign of something bigger than himself — not that Trump would ever agree with that assessment — a movement away from the traditional that dispenses with the old playbook, that promotes, encourages and rewards independent thought where, as JFK once famously said: “Sometimes party loyalty asks too much”. Perot perfected, sort of.

This deviation from the norm and willingness to break from the norm resonate. In fact, the new brash and the new bold appear to be finding favour across the political spectrum. Look at Bernie Sanders, who, on the Left, is giving veteran Hillary Clinton a far greater run for her money — and that of her big donors — than few had anticipated.

Voters truly are tired of the same old, same old. They have grown weary of the excuses for inaction. They have given up on politicians on whom they no longer believe they can count to have their backs. They don’t like what they see or what they hear out of Washington.

In a word, er, two, they are fed up. We can all relate.

I get all that. But here’s the thing, too: the attraction does not stop there; it rarely does. There are roots that run deeper than just that. Candidate Trump is tapping into three very rich, powerful and potentially explosive veins of emotion: hate, fear and anger.

Pessimism and powerlessness are fuel for the campaign. There are people out there who are not only struggling but do not see things turning around for them any time soon. They feel stuck or trapped, as they see opportunities slipping away from them and their country. There are as well understandable concerns about national security.

The disgruntled coalesce around candidate Trump. He talks tough. His solutions, while simplistic, reflect their views of what’s wrong with the United States. That apparently is all that counts out on the campaign trail. How else to explain his outrageous plans to build a wall to keep Mexicans out or to ban all Muslims from entering the US? Crowds glory in his spirit, which is what campaigns are all about. But this appeal, sadly, and maybe tragically, will have consequences.

The danger is that the emerging Trump coalition is being built on differentiating between people, separating people out on the basis of religion, background and skin colour. Yes, let’s not kid ourselves or turn a blind eye, race is a factor: some roots are definitely racial, if not downright racist. The Trump campaign is tapping into that base, too, to divide and conquer and to build what he hopes will be a winning combination. We’ll soon see.

But appealing to the base is nothing new, Mr Editor, there or here. But if history has taught us anything, it is that appeals of this nature are not the best way to go about building communities that need to work together to succeed. There are lessons here for Bermuda, I think: the good, the bad and the ugly. Stay posted.