America has no faith in the political process, and that lack of faith is manifested in many different forms. That lack of faith is reflected very differently by those from either party. Yes, technically speaking there are various parties including the Green Party, the Justice Party, and the Libertarian Party, among many others. However, until one party or another gets its act together and builds a growing grassroots movement, the duopoly of the Republican and Democratic Parties is all that effectively matters.

This election season is different than any other in living memory. Each party is running a maverick, and each maverick claims they are building or leading a movement of some kind.

Donald Trump’s movement was a surprise. The Republican Party viewed Trump as joke, and they know he is not a real conservative. The Republican Party believed its own rhetoric. They believed that rank-and-file Republicans really believed in the conservative orthodoxy.

The reality is that the Republican Party is a combination of low-tax plutocrats, evangelical extremists, insular racists, confused welfare recipients, gun toting zealots, secessionists, and a large swath of good people.

When one queries Republicans, there is one common thread: They believe there are people out there who are trying to take away something that they’ve earned. The “something” they have earned could be something material, something spiritual, or an unearned but deserved privilege. Donald Trump’s words spoke to all the fears and wants of the low-information, racist, and opportunist sects of the Republican party.

The Republican Party realizes now that there was, in fact, a Trump movement. Trump united all of the party’s factions into a cohesive unit. He gave them the belief that as a plain-spoken person uninterested in political correctness, he represented the party with a tonality they would not personally articulate. He became their alter ego. He became their spokesperson. Yes—he gave them hope.