'Rationals' vs. 'radicals': Anti-Trump Republicans threaten third party

[Metaphorical]

6. I think we're past that point and they may be as well

The Cheney/Romney faction understand that the Trump party is toxic, but it has also eaten the GOP brand. Manchin and Sinema probably do too, especially Manchin. They understand that in the Senate in particular the ideological purists are about to run the party (and the country) off a cliff.

A third party would create a buffer, and would allow them to occasionally caucus with the Democrats whenever they felt that it is in the better interest of the country than following the party line. They recognize at this point that the purists control the Republican party, but they are also placing a huge bet that Trump will not in fact have the power that he and his supporters believe he has.

We are at the precipice right now. Biden is doing everything right, but he's got a razor-thin margin in the Senate to work with, and the current blitz that the GQP is doing in Republican states to restrict voting rights, even if they fail in the courts, is just exacerbating the situation. Should challenges to these laws succeed (and I think they probably will - they're not well constructed), the next likely action is secession. Biden may not have signed up to be Abe Lincoln, but he may not have a choice.