1) DeSantis very well could be President one day. He's NOT a good person, but a much as people are calling him Trump 2.0, he's not that. Trump has psychological issues. He has narcissistic personality disorder, and not barely either. Trump has had money and lawyers and time on his side his whole adult life to keep accountability at bay. DeSantis does not have that. DeSantis is also MUCH smarter than Trump, and if he's ever President, I believe that he WILL actually surround himself with qualified individuals and not yes men.
2) The reason I mentioned Sununu and Hogan is because they have been successful as Republicans in typically Democratic states. They are sane, decent men. This is the kind of leadership the GOP needs if it is to be successful in the long term. Most Americans do not appreciate the vitriol that came out of Trump's mouth and his window-licker supporters.
3) IF the GOP and DeSantis were smart, they would surrender the White House in 2024 to the Democrats. It's already VERY hard to unseat an incumbent (Biden did it because Trump was so awful and filled with scandal), and the GOP is a mess. With no clear Democrat leader to take over the party when Biden is done, it seems that, especially in a change election in 2028, Republicans would have a much better chance of winning...and it gives them time to clean up their image too.
4) Most of the Trump base will switch to voting for available Republicans once Trump is no longer on the ballot. Many of them though will not vote again. Populism brings out the worst people...people who are entitled and think that others not like them should not succeed and that because those others ARE succeeding that they are being robbed of something. Trump energized these people and gave them people to hate, namely Mexicans and black people. Many of them reportedly had never voted for anyone before. Those people will go back to not voting again.
5) Finally, we can't ignore the fact that the GOP is the party of old people. Old people die sooner than young people. COVID killed off many of those MFers because they foolishly refused to get vaccinated, and they will just continue to die of other natural causes. Trumpism and right-wing extremism energized young people to register to vote and then vote.