After last week, a number of issues from inflation to abortion remain up for debate. One matter election day settled, though, is Donald Trump’s lack of appeal with independent voters. When he or his candidates are on the ballot, shave a few points off their margin of victory or add a few to their loss.

That is why, as the Trump machine revs up for a 2024 announcement tonight, Republican mandarins are revving up their search for an alternative. One such alternative, not surprisingly, is Ron DeSantis. Many pieces have been written  encouraging him to run against Trump. John Feehery’s in The Hill, however, is the first I’ve seen advising him how to win. It’s an intriguing shift made all the more compelling by the fact this is a primary race neither man has entered that doesn’t have its first election for more than a year. You can feel the party’s urgency to get ahead of Trump before he steamrolls them again. Because while independents don’t want Trump, Republicans can’t afford him.