MILWAUKEE — As the Republican race for president got even more crowded this week with three more high-profile announcements, including from former Vice President Mike Pence, it begs the question: Do all these candidates think they can win?

“Running for president can certainly raise your political profile,” said Dr. Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “It can help someone sell books. It can help someone attract more attention for their ideas. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of presidential candidates enter the race not because they think they will win, but because they want to attract more attention for their ideas, more attention for their agenda and the Republican field is striking.”

The average of all current polls at RealClearPolitics.com have former President Donald Trump far and away the front runner at this point, and Dr. Chergosky said that any candidate who actually thinks they can win the GOP nomination will need to take on Trump sooner rather than later.

“A candidate is going to have to go after Donald Trump if they hope to win the Republican nomination,” he said. “That is because Donald Trump maintains the loyalty of a strong percentage of Republican primary voters, so Ron DeSantis [for instance] is going to need to explain to voters why they should vote for him and not for President Trump.”

Watch the full interview above.