Donald Trump’s meteoric rise to political power this election season has been nothing short of shocking. After winning the GOP primary opposite savvy campaigners Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ted Cruz, Donald Trump has achieved the unthinkable: become the presumptive Republican nominee in 2016’s Presidential election.

Though outspoken, controversial, and maligned, even within his own party, Trump’s ascendance was eerily predicted some 15 years prior by renowned baseball pundit and statistician Bill James. In an interesting forbearance, James opined Donald Trump’s success would be determined by a fervid minority. NBC reported the following.

“A voting structure like this is an open invitation to an eccentric outcome. If the United States were to use a system like this…, the absolutely certain result would be that, within a few elections, someone like David Duke, Donald Trump, or Warren Beatty could be elected President. If you can win an election with 15% of the vote, sooner or later somebody will. An unconstrained plurality vote gives an opening to someone or something who has a strong appeal to a limited number of people.”

Indeed, Trump’s possible presidential merits have been decried by a large faction of voters, yet doggedly embraced by a raucous contingent. While Trump’s outlandish Islamophobic statements have drawn the ire of many throughout the world, a portion of staunch Republican party members are in stark tune with Trump’s ideology.

[Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images]

Concerning Trump’s proposal to ban all Islamic immigration, predominantly red states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia offered no less than 63 percent approval in national exit polls.

Many of the aforementioned states also jibed with Trump’s bombastic proposal for the country of Mexico to erect a border wall in hopes of preventing illegal immigration into the United States. With such rhetoric gaining traction, it is clear the current political climate within the GOP has led to an unexpected embrace of Trump’s seemingly far-reaching ideals.

Though just now erupting, this pro-Trump zeitgeist has spawned from an undercurrent of long-held frustration inside the Republican party. While experienced republican leaders such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio proffered campaigns built around optimism, Trump’s all-out embrace of radical reform stoked the interests of enough supporters to rebuke both men. One such disillusioned republican stated his allegiance to Trump springs from a vision for potential greatness. The Atlantic states the following.

“Think about John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan inspiring the world with leadership. Think of Babe Ruth, Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Rogers. The American 20th Century was a great one. Now think about the American headlines of today. What do you think of? War? Poverty? Political division? Do we see greatness in America still on a daily basis or even in the movies? The Trump Family is the picture of the American Dream … When Donald Trump says that he wants to make America great again, I believe him.”

Trump’s promise to”make America great again” has gained requisite traction to see a likely fall presidential showdown with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. As Clinton nears her parties presidential bid, the nation is already divided between the two candidates.

[Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images]

In a recent Reuter’s poll, almost half of all Trump or Clinton supporters said they’d vote for their candidate simply to prevent the other from attaining POTUS status.

While an explosive undercurrent has allowed Donald Trump’s unlikely rise, time will tell if his momentum is enough to take him to the White House.

[AP Photo/Jae C. Hong]