He’s bombastic. He’s crazy. He’s pompous. He’s a billionaire. He’s an outsider. He makes unrealistic statements. He’s insulting everyone in his way. He’s splitting his own establishment.

Most of all, he’s hated.

Donald J. Trump is all of this and more. Yet somehow, the business magnate is atop the GOP polls, and he’s racking up victory after victory in the primary elections.

And somehow, he is well on his way to obtaining the Republican nomination for president.

After finishing in second behind Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses, Trump rebounded with a dominating victory in New Hampshire. He then took South Carolina and the Nevada caucuses, carrying all the momentum into Super Tuesday.

On Super Tuesday, Trump won seven of the possible 11 states at stake for Republicans, including right here in Massachusetts (where Trump garnered 49 percent of the vote).

Trump clinched 237 delegates on Super Tuesday, bringing his total to 319. The Republican presidential candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win.

According to MassLive.com, while there were only 4,806 Republican ballots cast on Super Tuesday here in Springfield, Trump took home 2,190 of those votes – that’s 45.6 percent.

So, the big question is, how on earth is Donald Trump doing it? He’s insulted Mexicans, Muslims, John McCain, and Megyn Kelly, among several others. He’s persistent on Mexico paying for ‘The Wall,’ and has no political or foreign policy experience.

So how is Trump staying atop the polls?

Julie Walsh is a political science professor at American International College. She offered insight as to why she thinks Trump is having success, despite being so unappealing to many other voters.

“Early on, Trump clearly tapped into white anxiety over demographic changes, symbolized by an African-American president. His emphasis on immigration and hard-core stances on deportation and banning Muslims from entry solidified his support with such voters,” Walsh said.

Walsh says that Trump’s mobilization of voters in his party who did not come out four years ago has helped him. She likens his ‘tell it like it is’ campaign to a “personality cult” where his supporters seldom criticize him.

All of that is true – Trump falls back on his basic “plans” and says what people want to hear: that it’s time to “make America great again.”

Walsh also credits Trump for playing the media game the best of anyone in his party, noting that he has given “truth to the notion that there is no such thing as bad media attention.” Trump going after the competition and labeling himself as a ‘winner’ has helped him gain support.

“Momentum matters in the nomination contests, and people like to support a ‘winner’,” continued Walsh.

Four years after accepting Trump’s endorsement, Republican Mitt Romney called Trump a “phony” and a “fraud” after his performance on Super Tuesday. This will probably amount to nothing though — Walsh suggested that this would have minimal to no impact on Trump.

All of the things you would think would bring Trump down – the outrageous comments and insults, going in hard at his competition, his cockiness, the other politicians ganging up on him – have not really had much effect on his following; he’s still getting it done, somehow.

Mike Forrest, a senior English major at AIC, respects the business side of Trump, but is skeptical of Trump in the political world.

“Donald Trump is a smart man. He has been extremely successful despite what people may say about his business, and he understands the business end of government very well,” Forrest said. “He is very smart but misguided on many of the social aspects of government, namely immigration and foreign policy.”

Forrest – a registered Republican who considers himself on the conservative side – agrees that Trump has had some success in his campaign targeting the fears of Americans, but calls his methods “morally questionable at best.”

“Trump continuing to do so well is one of the more confusing things to happen in this election,” Forrest added.

Forrest offered three theories on Trump’s success: his insensitive/phobic views strike home with some Americans, the conservative viewpoint that Barack Obama has been a failure, leading Trump to talk a big game and saying what people want to hear (“America will be great again”), and that the public is sick of the lying politicians we have become accustomed to.

Mary Ellen Lowney is the chair of the communication department at AIC. She is known by her peers as a devoted liberal. Lowney chimed in with her thoughts on Trump.

“Trump’s doing really well, it’s kind of interesting. He has a certain percentage of the population, and they’re the ones who come out in the primaries,” said Lowney. “I do think he’ll be in trouble against Hillary, but he’s defied all the odds, so maybe he could win.”

Trump may be enjoying the wild ride of this campaign, and his ardent supporters are obviously entertained, but wouldn’t Trump’s own success be hurting his own party if the Trump Train doesn’t have enough in the tank to take down Clinton, or if a third party candidate emerges?

Walsh speculated on the possibility of a third party candidate.

“Trump’s candidacy is exposing a deep division within the Republican Party. It remains to be seen if there will be a third party candidacy if Trump is the nominee,” said Walsh, who explained that it will be tough to tell whether a “mystery independent” would benefit the Democrat or the Republican.

The political science professor confirmed that Trump’s personal success might not be in the best interests of the party he’s running for.

“It’s undoubtedly true that many Republicans are swearing they’ll vote for neither Trump nor Clinton,” said Walsh. “Combine that fact with a lack of enthusiasm among young Democrats for Clinton, and it seems to open up the possibility of a third-party run.”

“If Trump becomes the nominee, it will change the Republican brand and most likely coalition for sure,” added Walsh.

Lowney agreed.

“I don’t think the establishment Republicans think he can beat Clinton,” Lowney said. The Republicans have to stop and ask, ‘what kind of monster have we created?’”

Lowney is not terribly worried about Trump, but she obviously would not be thrilled if he were the next to assume the Oval Office.

“I wouldn’t say I worry about it – I wouldn’t move to Canada – but I’d be pretty freaked out if Trump won,” Lowney said. “But there are some articles out there that say he could win, so I guess you have to take that seriously. I don’t believe it’s going to happen though. I don’t like Clinton that much, but I’d be cool with her.”

Count Forrest as another who would not be cool with Trump (or Clinton) winning the election in November.

“I could not in good conscience vote for either Trump or Hillary,” said Forrest. He thinks Trump will actually follow through with “a lot of the crazy, terrible, and immoral things he says he will do if he is elected.”

Forrest, who voted for Marco Rubio on Super Tuesday in Massachusetts, thinks Trump vs. Clinton would be the worst-case scenario. He explains that he is turned off by Clinton’s scandals and her poor record – “I trust Hillary Clinton about as much as I trust gas station sushi,” Forrest said.

“All that being said, I don’t think I could make myself vote in a Hillary/Trump election,” declared Forrest. “I have no idea who would even win in that scenario.”