The more extreme Trump gets, the more the non-MAGA Republicans, whom I will call the "GOP," would like to be free of him. They always distrusted him, but their desire for power overwhelmed that distrust. The alternative to Trump was the Democrats. Opposition to Trump meant being pushed out of the Republican party like Liz Cheney. Now they live in fear. Only the GOP have the political power to remove Trump. 4 in the House. 4 in the Senate could pass a resolution, including a resolution declaring Trump an insurrectionist. 14 could beat filibuster, 20 could pass veto-proof resolutions or convict an impeachment.

But to "shoot at the king and miss" means the end of their career; all they have worked for. Is there a way the Democrats could help them and save the country, as is their duty?

Trump's threat is this: defy him, and next primary, they'll run a MAGA opponent. Elon Musk will fund that campaign. You'll be out, even in a safe seat.

The Democrats could pledge this: If you are in a safe GOP seat and you vote to be rid of Trump, and they attack you, we won't run anybody in your race. Further, we'll tell our supporters to register as Republicans and vote for you, and if that fails, you can run as an independent, or even a new party called the "Grand Old" party, and we'll tell our supporters to vote for you. One time only, but we'll do what we can, and you'll get 6 more years. It had better be over after that.

This actually costs the Democrats little. It's a safe GOP seat. No Democrat is going to win it. Running a Democrat is just symbolic, and it's the wrong time to choose symbolism over America. Of course, you poll to make sure this can work in the state or district in question, with good confidence. It would be good if some wealthy GOP donors also pooled to match anything Musk or other MAGA donors give.

If Trump goes, Vance is in. He's far from what's wanted but he's not going to start wars with Canada and Mexico and support Putin, and so many other things. At the end, the new GOP is absorbed back into the Republicans, or perhaps it goes the other way around. Lessons are learned, and like after Nixon, a whole bunch of new rules come into place to stop this happening again.

There is a risk that a candidate could suffer if seen as working with the Democrats. As a one-time act, it can be made clear they are not beholden after the election is won. Or in some cases, the effort or votes of Democrats may not be needed and would not be given.

Semi-anonymous voting

A milder step would be to get GOP members to support a special type of voting in congress. This allows a vote which is anonymous if it doesn't pass, but for which the votes are revealed if it does. That allows members to vote their true intentions without fear of punishment in congress, for their intentions are not revealed unless they are in the majority. (This doesn't stop the Primary threat but it blunts it a lot.) This can be done with cryptography but there's also a simple paper system.

In the paper system, members are given envelopes with their name printed inside. They seal them and write their vote on the outside, then put that in another envelope, which they put in the box. The outer envelopes are opened and votes counted. If a majority support the proposition, the inner envelopes are opened and the names of members are read with their vote. If the proposition fails, the ballots are securely destroyed in the chamber.

Such voting systems would fix the problem when there's something the majority wants but nobody wants to be the first to declare it. That would include things like marijuana legalization and many others.