Any announced candidate who hasn’t qualified for the debate based on the Republican National Committee’s criteria isn’t likely to strike political lightning from the sidelines. Staying in longer is essentially a vanity project, or an audition to be a talk-show host. …

Democrats, the press corps and Mr. Trump all want Mr. Trump to be the GOP nominee, which is why they’re all suggesting the race is already over. But he’s fallen somewhat recently in the polls, and about half of his current supporters say they’d consider someone else. More Republicans are also saying they don’t want him as the nominee if he’s convicted of a crime.

President Biden is eminently beatable if the election campaign is about his record and obvious decline. But not if the election is about Mr. Trump and his grievances and legal peril. Republicans deserve a real nominating contest, not a third Trump coronation, and that means narrowing the field early.

[That’s easier said than done, of course. Even the WSJ deadline of the September 27 debate in Milwaukee demonstrates that; there are already eight candidates who qualify for that debate. Would eliminating one of those make any difference in the overall strategy? It’s best to let this play out organically, or at least semi-organically with donor and poll thresholds that escalate to narrow the number of podiums on stage. — Ed]