But none of them are taking steps that will effectively challenge Trumpism. After being ousted from her House leadership post, Cheney plans to raise money and campaign for anti-Trump Republicans in GOP primaries. That isn’t going to work, because most rank-and-file GOP voters back Trump-ish policies and rhetoric, including the “big lie.” Still, Cheney’s strategy isn’t as cowardly as voting for Condoleezza Rice in 2020 (Bush), saying you won’t vote for Trump but not endorsing Joe Biden (Romney) or voting for Trump and then complaining about him on your book tour (former House speaker John A. Boehner). A much more useful approach would be for these Republicans to formally break with the GOP and announce that they will back Democratic candidates. If you prioritize preserving democracy above all (and you should), it shouldn’t be a hard choice to back a small-d democrat, even one who is a liberal Democrat. Our electoral structure is set up for two parties, so it’s just a waste of time to talk much about third-party efforts. The best way to force a party to reform itself is to crush it in successive elections. And there is a real opportunity for that. Polls suggest that around 20 percent of Republican voters are wary of the Trumpian direction of the party. That’s about 9 percent of the electorate overall. If that 9 percent strategically aligned with the Democrats, it would put the Democrats at around 60 percent of the national vote — enough to turn states such as Florida and North Carolina blue while boosting the party toward victory in Ohio and Texas, too.