It’s been more than a month since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for presidency. And rather than quickly self-combust, as many expected, the Donald has actually enjoyed a cresting wave of support, taking him straight to the top of the GOP field. Not even a string of high-profile flaps seem to have any impact on the man’s surging popularity.

While once thought of as a flash in the pan, Trump’s candidacy has proven to be a far bigger problem for the Republican Party than establishment figures ever expected. In coping with such a colossal headache, the Party seems to be following the KÃ¼bler-Ross model of grief – the model frequently used to describe how people come to grips with the death of a loved one.

Let’s observe:

Step 1: Denial

Most institutional Republicans still appear to still be in the denial stage: “He doesn’t really want to be President, he just wants to run and get lots of attention doing so.” “Primary polling that show him leading the GOP field, by a good margin, is just a mirage.” “His candidacy will fade like those of other novelty GOP candidates in the past, even if he started with far more name recognition and money than any of those predecessors.” “He’s not really worth $9 billion and maybe not even $3 billion.”"As soon as yet another imagined dream candidate gets in the race he’ll start eating into Trump’s lead.” ”He — or an staffer – said something so offensive it will make him toxic.” Curiously, this latter form of denial always seems to focus on what Trump said, not what he did.

Step 2: Anger

It’s that series of things that Trump has said, starting with the claim that immigrants are rapists,, which Republicans (fairly) worry might damage the party brand, that has led them to start lashing out — although the response was muted, as anything short of full-blown nativism risks damaging the national prospects of GOP candidates these days.

Trump’s attack on John McCain’s service in Vietnam earlier this month finally gave Republicans the opportunity to get mad without losing political points with the paleoconservative crowd. So, in spite of the Republican Party’s own serial use of slurs against war heroes for political gain, just about every top figure in the party (save Ted Cruz) pounced on Trump’s statement and declared he had gone too far. Many believed Trump’s indelicacy would end his campaign.

Except – as just a few predicted – it didn’t work out that way. Indeed, his standing in the polls actually improved, perhaps bolstered by the many base voters who aren’t as fond of John McCain as the beltway media.