• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, December 14, 2015

Many have started coming to terms with the fact that Donald Trump, the politician, is here to stay. Who are these Trump supporters who have propelled him to the top of the Republican primary race?

Frank Luntz, Republican commentator and CBS News contributor, held a focus group of 29 current and past Trump supporters last week. The group represented the voter deeply skeptical of the Washington establishment, but who also doesn’t necessarily agree with everything Trump says.

One in the group said, “[Trump] says something completely crazy and inflammatory, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God!’ And then he dials back and sort of starts explaining it and saying how he would do [sic] and it makes sort of sense.”

Many were clear that they believe Trump is “playing” the media with his inflammatory statements. One member of the group spoke in this vein: “We’re not believing everything he’s saying … We want someone to take a stand we want someone who says yes, OK, here’s what we’re going to do.”

Looking at the demographic makeup of Trump supporters, a more precise picture takes shape.

According to the Stanford University Hoover Institution study from September, Trump supporters are for the most part older and under-educated. Only 2% of supporters are under 30 and around 33% are over 65. Only 19% have a college degree and about 50% have a high-school diploma.

A Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey from mid-November showed a majority, 55%, of Trump supporters to be white and working class. Among that group, the most likely voters were men between the ages of 50-64 with a high-school education.

Touching on race relations, Jamelle Bouie of CBS News, spoke of the rise in racial tension in the wake of the 2008 and 2012 elections. He added, “Trump’s supporters show all the hallmarks of people with high levels of racial resentment.”

The most worrying response from the focus group held by Luntz, as far as Republicans are concerned, was when the group was asked whether they would support Trump as an Independent candidate. More than half of the 29 raised their hands, which prompted Luntz to note: “The establishment Republicans just died.”

In the most telling statement about the likelihood of Trump running in the general election come November, Luntz remarked yesterday on "Face the Nation": “I’ve never seen voters so passionate and committed to a candidate after seeing an hour’s worth of reasons why not to vote for him.”