Either DeSantis or Nikki will have to bow out fairly quickly, and back the other as the "electable" candidate. Throw Christie and others into that camp. Just as it was for Biden in '20, that is the only path.

And then if one of them pulls that off, their only hope is to minimize the damage or stay at home factor within Trump's core base, so that they will vote for the party's nominee. That is why it would be beyond politically stupid for either of them to follow the Orange Man Bad path you, Christie and all the TDSers are wanting. They know they can't get House and the TDS voters, so they have to still appeal enough to the base and to the moderate "soccer mom", etc. voters that would happily take an alternative to Biden, as long as it's not Trump.