“Donald Trump is already doomed: Why his campaign is a bigger disaster than his hair,” screamed the headline of a July 6 Salon headline.

The TV billionaire has only just announced his candidacy--yet he's already made enough mistakes to last a lifetime.

In fact, Trump was not doomed at all.  On June 10 of this year, a week before Trump announced his candidacy, I explained why.  “The Republican nominee for president,” I wrote, “will be that candidate who best learns that there is no future in apologizing.”

When I wrote this, I had no idea Trump was planning to run for president.

In the subsequent two months, he raced to the top of the polls not because of his character or his wealth or his policy positions, but precisely because he has refused to apologize for the provocative things he has said.

As I learned in researching my new book, Scarlet Letters: The Ever Increasing Intolerance of the Cult of Liberalism, leftist scolds like those at Salon are quick to hand out career-killing “letters” to those who offend their righteous sense of self.

As I also learned, the only way to beat them is to stand your ground and not apologize for yourself or for your political allies.  An apology is never enough.  Progressive neo-puritans want you to grovel, and then they want you gone.

For years, conservatives have been looking for a candidate with backbone.  Trump was not on the top of anyone’s mind, but so far he has shown the most of it.  Here’s hoping the rest of the field will catch on.