The Trump Campaign Is Business as Usual on the Lip of History

A view from the Donald's caucus eve rally, another day at the office in one of the strangest campaigns in American politics.

Donald Trump speaks on stage with Jerry Falwell Jr. during a campaign rally at the Gerald W. Kirn Middle School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Jan. 31, 2016.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

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By Will Leitch

February 1, 2016 at 3:19 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Five months ago, Donald Trump descended, somewhat inexplicably, upon Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and promptly took over American politics. We were all so bewildered by Trump then, and his organization, such as it was, was ramshackle. He simply decided, for reasons no one quite understood, to do a sudden pop-in to a college football stadium in the deep South on a Friday night in a state few had even thought to campaign in. We all mocked Trump, but we were fascinated by him. The flameout, when it inevitably came, would be glorious.

Mostly, though, we were fascinated by the voters. They waited in a line a quarter-mile deep that Friday, in the sticky Alabama sun, just to see him, to get close. We saw those lines, those who found this television personality and dubious real estate magnate their political savior, and wondered: Who are these people?