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Memo to pollsters: while I’m having as much fun as everyone else watching the unsinkable Donald defy predictions of his assured collapse, what I really want to see at this point is a profile of his supporters. What characteristics predispose someone to like this guy, as opposed to accepting the establishment candidates?

The reason I’d like to see such a poll is that I suspect that both conservative and liberal pundits are still getting the Trump phenomenon wrong. And yes, that’s the kind of statement — hey, left and right both wrong! — that I usually hate when other pundits do it. But in my case it’s not knee-jerk centrism, it’s an informed guess based on some related evidence.

Right now, the conservative explanation of the GOP’s onset of DTs is, as best I can figure, that base voters are victims of celebrity; what they really want is a true conservative, but they’re being hijacked and hoodwinked by someone who makes good TV.

Meanwhile, the liberal version, as I’ve seen it, seems to be that Trump is appealing to resentment that ultimately rests on economic failure: working-class whites have been left behind by soaring inequality, but they mistakenly blame immigrants taking their jobs.

But are Trumpists being hoodwinked? Are they members of the suffering working class who don’t understand why they’re hurting? OK, here’s my guess: they look a lot like Tea Party supporters. And we do know a fair bit about that group.

First of all, Tea Party supporters are for the most part not working-class, at least in the senses that group is often defined. They’re relatively affluent, and not especially lacking in college degrees.

So what is distinctive about them? Alan Abramowitz:

While conservatism is by far the strongest predictor of support for the Tea Party movement, racial hostility also has a significant impact on support.

So maybe Trump’s base is angry, fairly affluent white racists — sort of like The Donald himself, only not as rich? And maybe they’re not being hoodwinked?

Now, you might ask why angry racists are busting out of the channels the GOP constructed to direct their rage. But there, surely, we have to take account of two things: the real changes in America, which is becoming more socially and culturally diverse, plus the Fox News effect, which has created an angry white guy feedback loop.

Again, this is just guesswork until we have a real profile of typical Trump supporter. But for what it’s worth, I think the Trump phenomenon is much more grounded in fundamentals than the commentariat yet grasps.