At first, Republican presidential candidates looked at Donald Trump's campaign with the indifference of a high school student assigned to sit beside the class clown.

He made questionable remarks about Mexicans - categorizing them as rapists and criminals - and degraded Fox News star anchor Megyn Kelly by referencing her menstrual cycle, among other vociferous allegations made. Trump's immigration policy initially left fellow GOP hopeful silent, but not for the reasons one would imagine.

Whereas front-runners like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current Florida Sen. Marco Rubio walked tepidly, Americans urged Trump to elaborate on his plans to end illegal immigration; plans which now include ending birthright citizenship rights guaranteed under the 14^th amendment.

Instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds, Trump wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to deport all of them, regardless of their U.S. roots. He wants to completely shut off employment to undocumented immigrants by expanding the e-verify system while placing restrictions on hiring foreign workers. Anyone staying beyond their temporary visa expiration date will be considered a threat to national security.

Early on, Republicans tried disassociate themselves from Trump, blithely answering media questions in hopes his impact would waver. It hasn't. If anything, Trump has become the face of the party.

His ever-rising favorability rating leaves fellow candidates with little recourse in fear of alienating potential voters.

Trump's Numbers

An Aug. 13-16 CNN/ORC poll found Trump carries an 11-point advantage over Bush among Republican and independent registered voters. Nearly one-quarter - 24 percent - of those surveyed sided with Trump, compared to 13 percent for Bush, nine percent for neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and eight percent each for Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

While most Republicans - 72 percent - said they wouldn't vote for Trump, nearly half said they agree with the real estate magnate on the economy and immigration. Many who lambasted him for derogatory comments made about Mexicans in June attributed to a 30-point boost on illegal immigration views.

GOP candidates are left with a difficult road. They can either endorse Trump's beliefs, one which includes building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border which he would make the Mexican government pay, or they can find a solution that will appease most voters, a majority of which may be Latino.

"Donald Trump's eight-page plan is absolute gibberish. It is unworkable," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN. "Mitt Romney said his biggest mistake as a candidate for president was embracing self-deportation. That hurt our party. Donald Trump's plan is forced deportation. It's not going to work."

Bush shared the sentiment, telling the Washington Post, "How do you revoke remittances? A plan needs to be grounded in reality." While the former governor agrees with the need for immigration reform, he believes Trump is going about it the wrong way.

"There needs to be real efforts to deal with the abuse of these factories where people come in and have children gain the citizenship for the children," Bush said, referring to birthright citizenship. "But this is in the Constitution. The argument that it's not I don't think is the right view."

Similarly, Rubio and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fioria both disagreed in making changes to the 14^th amendment.

The problem everyone outside of Trump is having is that people are buying into Trump's rhetoric. Election Day may be over a year away, but ideas embedded into voters' minds today will have an effect down the road, even if Trump isn't atop national polls.