INURED TO REALITY TV:

2. Celebrity beat organization

A longstanding assumption of political campaigns is that a first-rate "Get out the Vote" organization is indispensable. The conventional wisdom in 2016 thus held that Trump's lack of a grassroots organization was a huge liability for his campaign.

But as it turned out, he didn't need an organization. Trump has been in the public eye for over 30 years, which meant that he entered the race with nearly 100 percent name recognition. Trump's longstanding status as a celebrity enabled him to garner relentless media attention from the moment he entered the race. One study found that by May 2016 Trump had received the equivalent of US$3 billion in free advertising from the media coverage his campaign commanded. Trump seemed to intuitively understand that the controversial things he said on the campaign trail captured the voters' attention in a way that serious policy speeches never could.

Most important of all, he had highly motivated voters. Trump's populist rhetoric and open contempt for civility and basic standards of decency enabled him to connect with the Republican base like no candidate since Ronald Reagan. Trump didn't play by the normal rules of politics, and his voters loved him for it.

Trump's victory would seem to herald a new era of celebrity politicians. He showed that a charismatic media-savvy outsider has significant advantages over traditional politicians and conventional political organizations in the internet age. In the future, we may see many more unconventional politicians in the Trump mold.

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