Read On: Gamesmanship trumps the naysayers

So, in my world these days, ladies and gentlemen, there is pretty much only one subject that matters. Here’s a hint: It’s two words and rhymes with Monald Mump.

Yes, this past week was the one where the Conventional Wisdom officially evolved from “Donald Trump is a whacko who will self-destruct” to “It’s inevitable that Donald Trump is going to be the Republican Party’s nominee for president.”

It still feels utterly surreal to write those words, but the facts — unlike politicians — don’t lie. And the victory needle stands to move forward several notches in the week ahead with what’s looking like a series of resounding Trump primary triumphs on Super Tuesday.

This long ago ceased to be a joke. A consummate con artist, a xenophobic, misogynistic, trash-talking bully is poised to snatch the nomination prize of one of the two major political parties in the United States. For those who are scared witless by this prospect, it feels literally like the world itself is poised on the precipice.

But let’s forget for a moment that civilization as we know it may soon evaporate into the ether. Because the one thing that’s endlessly debated — on television, online, in bars, at parties, in polite company and pretty much everywhere shell-shocked people gather — is how this has happened.

Fortunately, a guy who writes a column in the Burbank and Glendale papers has this Trump thing all figured out. It’s crazy I know, but really no less nutty than the situation itself.

Let’s start with the fact that Trump has by sheer instinct been competing on a different playing field than his fellow candidates from Day One. He studied the game and understood that this campaign stuff was essentially an unscripted television show.

He’s treated it as his own personal pro-wrestling match, casting himself as the overbearing, uber-confident bad guy. Everyone laughed. That was what he was counting on. Once the other guys caught on, it was — and is — too late.

Trump’s base of supporters perceives his campaign as a presidential edition of “The Apprentice.” And we in the mainstream media have been only too happy to play along as his earnest enablers. Why? Because every time he opens his mouth, ratings and money pour out. It’s not just CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. It’s everybody.

You could see this dynamic in action following Thursday night’s GOP debate. The pundits on CNN and MSNBC were discussing Trump’s performance and how Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz had finally gone ferociously on the attack.

All of the talking heads clearly were rooting for this strategy to have been effective, so it could be turned from a runaway back into a race. This is the greatest TV show these guys have ever been associated with, and they’re going to milk it to the last drop.

So that’s point one. The press has served as Trump’s proxy teammates, feigning shock and dread while helping to collectively pave this particular road to hell for its favorite blustery blowhard.

Point 2 is that Trump understands the dispensing of propaganda perhaps better than anyone in the modern world. He’s obviously learned at the feet of the masters. There’s no question he subscribes to the principle that if you say something loudly enough and often enough, people will ultimately begin to accept it as fact.

And trust me, Trump has a legion of true believers who see him as The Answer. They disregard his knee-jerk insults of Latino culture, his vow to erect walls, his promise to keep Muslims out, his casual dismissal of the Pope. They forgive his innumerable inconsistencies, his countless flip-flops and outright fabrications, his tyrannical and abusive demeanor.

What’s undeniable is that Trump has connected with a not-insignificant percentage of the American electorate because, outrageous though it may be, they see themselves in this bellicose billionaire. They perceive hope rather than pandering, inclusion rather than rejection, a crusade rather than a quagmire. That’s point No. 3.

When Trump memorably told his supporters “I love the poorly educated!” during last Tuesday’s victory speech in Nevada, it was hardly accidental. It was instead his declaration to those who feel perpetually diminished and consistently passed over that he alone gets it, and they should latch onto this movement because, with him riding shotgun, they finally, genuinely matter.

That’s a powerful message to impart to an eternally disenfranchised slice of America. It also explains the genius that’s transformed Donald Trump’s candidacy from a punch line into a revolution.

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RAY RICHMOND has covered Hollywood and the entertainment business since 1984. He can be reached via email at ray@rayrichco.com and Twitter at @MeGoodWriter.