[aMorePerfectUnion]

“The media like him enough to keep him in the forefront, eclipsing others in print and airtime, which keeps the pep-rally going. “

I would observe he has been in a firestorm of media for 3 months...

He has flourished and used its momentum to suck the oxygen out of the room so effectively, that few other candidates get airtime.

[Smokin' Joe]

When you are in business, the most effective way to eliminate competition is to become THE talk of the town. If no one even discussed or hears of your competitors, you have won. Trump is a shrewd businessman, and has been for some time. He owes his financial success to that, and is applying that (plus some notoriety and prior media exposure from the tabloids to above the fold) to parlay that into political success.

That, however, does not mean he will necessarily be aligned with Conservative goals once elected.