I’d been planning to discuss the ongoing Republican war on acronyms this week. Instead, DEI and CRT can wait. The results of the New Hampshire Republican primary have pointed me in another direction.

I am well into Liz Cheney’s Jan. 6, 2021 memoir, “Oath and Honor,” which is surprisingly well written and easy to read. It probably didn’t hurt she has an editor in residence — her mother, Lynne — who is an accomplished author herself. Cheney’s excavation of the “Big Lie” insurrection remains No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list a month after it sold out its first edition. Except for her sole Republican ally, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who also served on the Jan. 6, 2021 investigation committee, her book provides an unrelenting account of the yellow stains visible down the spines of most of her Republican colleagues.

This is not to ignore the presence of a distaff caucus populated with the likes of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Elise Stefanik, each fully committed as apostles of the MAGA gospel. Although there remains a risk former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley may soon fold her campaign under peer pressure, I’m betting she’ll stick with it long enough to undermine the trundling Trump trolley. The fact the former guy could barely break a 50% threshold with slim majorities in both Iowa and New Hampshire leaves me wondering where the other half of Republican voters, who declined to accept a ticket for another ride on the 2024 Trump campaign, will take their votes come November — sitting at home, voting third-party or, God forbid, holding their noses and voting for President Joe Biden? Many of them, sure as hell, won’t be “coming home” under the no-longer-so-big Republican tent. If Nikki can raise the money to stay in the race, there’s little downside to maintaining her pole position as the party’s break-glass-in-case-of-emergency replacement.

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Setting aside former President Donald Trump’s capacity for self-destruction, his imminent felony convictions, seemingly incipient dementia and a lifestyle which leaves him a coronary-in-waiting, his supporters should not be surprised should he cut a deal exchanging his candidacy for a plea agreement allowing him to spend his dotage grumbling astride his golf cart once his poll numbers start to slip. Haley has an unremarked asset in her support from the economic resources of the South Asian diaspora that stands ready to funnel money to extend her chances, slim as they are. There has always been a theory the first woman elected to the White House would be a conservative, in the mold of Margaret Thatcher. Though Haley’s election would seal the understanding America is rapidly becoming a majority minority nation, close upon the heels of former President Barack Obama’s eight-year reign, she could appeal to a significant slice of unaffiliated, even many progressive, voters.

Although there is something of a mixed metaphor at work, Nikki Haley is one of only a few Republicans who, in her own words, has had the balls to directly criticize Trump — and I suspect her blows to his groin are about to grow ever more painful. On New Hampshire’s primary night, Trump charged Haley wasn’t “strong enough, or frankly, smart enough” to be president. No one buys that. We can expect Trump to display every skeleton rumored to reside in Haley’s closet. Most amusing will be this serial philanderer’s tut-tutting about the possibility his opponent once engaged in an affair (unproven). Then there will be his accusation she personally profited from her years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by taking a few paid speaking engagements — rather small beer when set alongside $2 billion invested by Saudi Arabia in the hedge fund organized by his daughter and son-in-law or the millions in cash laundered through his hotels from foreign governments. And we can expect further shade thrown on Haley’s immigrant parents — more birtherism.

Democrats and the Biden campaign should keep one eye trained on Nikki in the event of a black swan event that leaves her as Republicans best available substitute candidate. The closer we get to Election Day, the less likely any Democrats will cross over to support her, but with sufficient time to clean up her position on abortion, she might emerge as a formidable opponent. Democrats also should consider their own Plan B. Vice President Kamala Harris will be locked in after the convention — and will not prove the pushover Republicans would like to believe. If both of our octogenarians were forced off the 2024 ballot, it could produce a contest between a pair of women with South Asian heritage. Only in America is such a result conceivable.

If Trump is defeated by Biden again, as appears entirely possible, Republicans will need to dust off their 2012 “autopsy report” or undertake an orderly shutdown in favor of an entirely reconfigured party free of MAGA enthusiasts. They could do worse than turn to Liz Cheney and Nikki Haley for leadership. The boys have clearly botched the job. Among the many lies promulgated by Trump is the claim he offered 10,000 National Guard troops on Jan. 6 2021, which were refused by Nancy Pelosi (or, was that Nikki Haley?) Meanwhile, every day Haley tosses truth grenades into his campaign offices, every day she infuriates him and every day he refuses to debate her, the more Republican voters will drift toward Joe Biden. As Nikki noted in her New Hampshire remarks, “…it’s no secret Democrats want to run against Trump.” Since 90% of his supporters expect Trump to win, someone will be in for a huge disappointment.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.