"‘I am a winner, you are a loser. Vote for me and you too can be a winner”.

That is Donald Trump’s message and it is working. Why not? We all want to be winners.

Trump is winning and will continue to be a major factor in the Republican nomination process, and possibly the general election. If he runs as an independent he needs 33 percent plus one to win. By comparison Ross Perot got 19 percent in 1992. That was well before the twitter verse. And to paraphrase former Vice Presidential Candidate Lloyd Bentsen, “Donald Trump is no Ross Perot”.

Trump has better-looking ears.

I do not ascribe to the knee-jerk idea, made by most “pundits” and “journalists” who never knocked on a door for a campaign, that money wins elections. Ask Linda McMahon. Still, it helps.

In Trump’s case, were he to go rogue and independent he will need that cash to gain ballot access.

Another reason Trump will be with us for the long run is the Washington and media elite, who for far too long have covered politics from a philosophical position that has them stuck in their own Private Idaho.

Here is an example by Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, “By any traditional measure, Trump is not a viable candidate. Yet he continues to dominate news coverage of the campaign, and thus far there is no indication that his transgressions have caused the plunge in his poll numbers that party pooh-bahs so eagerly anticipate.”

Huh? “Traditional measure?” Polls are the most traditional measure and “The Donald” is crushing his opponents. To watch journalists of all stripes and ideological perspectives continue to laugh off Trump is painful. The only one who keeps pounding, “Boys you better pay attention,” is Morning Joe Anchor Mika Brzezinski.

For the record I would not support “The Donald” since, for now, I do not see the temperament needed, although I find myself uncomfortable with my own reasoning.

Look at where we are with all the “professional” politicians. Due to a convoluted foreign policy we now face the prospect of a deal with a country, Iran, which will result in sending this leader of terrorism billions of dollars to continue to their goal of dominating the Middle East.

Least we forget this recent phase began with the search for WMDs. Still looking.

We have a domestic policy paralyzed for years by recalcitrant Republicans more interested in congressional hearings on the president’s birth certificate and claiming the Affordable Care Act is one step from full fledged socialism, than on offering and fighting for alternatives.

“No” is not a sustainable policy.

Meanwhile our infrastructure from trains to highways is crumbling, the public education system flounders and “domestic tranquility” — race relations — is at an all-time post Civil Rights era low.

So much of the criticisms of Trump are based on the fact he doesn’t have a three-, or six- or 10-point plan. The public is not looking for a policy wonk. They want a leader. Trump is disciplined and a leader.

Trump does not drink or smoke. Interesting since he owns a large and very successful winery.

True “The Donald” makes misogynistic statements and his desire to surround himself with beautiful women is apparently politically incorrect. Still, for all his bluster and high profile there are few if any documented cases of sexual harassment or treating women unfairly.

“Establishment media outlets and women’s groups have been troubled by the apparent lack of female leadership and diversity the administration has exhibited so far— with the National Organization for Women demanding to know — ‘President Obama, Where are the Women?’” — reported the Daily Caller in January 2013.

You can’t find a similar quote describing the Trump organization.

Donald Trump could be the next President of the United States of America. Those who doubt it and fear it do so at their own peril. It is not a laughing matter.

“Yeah. I’d hate to see him involved in a Near East peace discussion or Salt Three agreement and come up with one of these ill-informed, shoot-from-the-hip types of comments.”

That quote is from a Jimmy Carter TV ad against Ronald Reagan.

“What’s past is prologue,” wrote William Shakespeare.

Ben Davol, an unaffiliated voter, has served as a political consultant to a variety of political campaigns for both parties. He lives in Stonington.