A specter is haunting the Republican Party. Unlike in the 1980s, it’s not “communism” or the “Soviet threat.” Nor is it “radical Islam” or “terrorism.” It is Donald Trump, the self-described “self-made” billionaire — actually one of the most spectacularly unsuccessful businessmen in recent memory — who has emerged as the frontrunner in the overcrowded race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump’s open xenophobia accounts for much of his popularity among the Republican base — predominantly suburban (and exurban) white middle-class professionals, managers, and small business people, and a minority of white workers. Eschewing what he terms political correctness, he decries the “rapists and criminals” supposedly streaming in from Mexico and calls for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

The approach resonates with a broad cross section of the white middle classes. In him they see the consummate anti-politician — a blunt-talking “man of the people” who speaks to their fears and anxieties and will restore America to greatness.