A specter is haunting the Republican Party — the specter of Donald Trump. Like Banquo’s ghost, Trump’s shade would not go down. Now it has returned to exercise once more its infernal dominion over the GOP. A sign of how much Trump still spooks Republicans is the speed with which, on the one hand, they began lining up behind him as he surged in the polls following his indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and, on the other, scurried like rats from Trump’s rival apparent, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), as his poll numbers consequently sagged. Thanks to these dual blows, DeSantis has been deluged with a cascade of media reports that he’s “stumbling,” “faltering,” “in a rut,” “facing headwinds,” “wobbling,” and “scuffling.” REPUBLICAN VOTERS ARE A LONG WAY FROM MAKING UP THEIR MINDS The barrage of negative headlines has been so unrelenting that figures in the Republican Party have started wondering what many of the politerati already were: Perhaps DeSantis would be better off waiting until 2028 to pursue the Republican presidential nomination. That would be a grievous mistake. Not only must DeSantis run this year, but the GOP’s powers that be must also insist he do so — and for the same reason he’s being encouraged not to: the challenge, though a necessary one, of confronting Trump head-on. Right now, cowardice and short-term calculation define the GOP’s response to the choice before it....