How Donald Trump broke all the rules — and won anyway

On Trump's resounding New Hampshire victory

Who's the loser now?
(Image credit: REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

So, this is real life now.

Plenty of pundits have promoted pet theories as to how Donald Trump's presidential candidacy would fail eventually. The latest batch, popularized over the last week, suggested that having come in a humbling second in the Iowa caucuses, the Trump spell would be broken. His "winning" persona would be ruined. As if to wish this theory into being after the caucuses, it seemed as if every second-rate Republican consultant and pundit began tweeting that Donald Trump was a "loser."

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.