I was shocked that he won the Republican nomination in 2016, so admittedly, I may be way off, but I don't think he can win again.  Even Republicans who liked his policies don't seem to want him back.  

In addition to their personal dislike for Trump, I think most Republicans understand he is immensely unpopular outside of the party (in 2020 he got more votes than any Republican who has won the presidency, but still lost the election), and they want to run someone who has a chance to win.  

"I hope they get more sane and healthy with whatever Lincoln or Kasich, Murkwosky and Romney sorts..."

Republicans outside of Utah will never support Romney again.  He's too phony.  Romney has been one of Trump's most vociferous critics (and I agree with Romney's criticisms of Trump), but he acted like Trump was the greatest thing since sliced bread when he needed Trump's money to fund his campaign, and when he thought Trump might hire him as Secretary of State.  Romney has no principles.  He'll say whatever he thinks will get him elected.  Dissatisfaction with career politicians like Romney is one of the factors that led to the election of Trump.

If De Santis runs, the Republican nomination is his to lose.  Of the others who's names have been coming up a lot, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo and Tim Scott are all way behind Trump and De Santis at this point, but I think all of them have the potential to gain some momentum when campaigning really gets started and a few primaries have happened.  Ramaswamy is interesting.

It will be interesting to see what Democrats do.  I think saying Biden has a couple of unforced errors is a gross understatement.  In my opinion he and Harris are both unelectable.  Newsom appears to be positioning himself, but I think he is perceived as too out of touch.  I think there will be a big tug of war between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.

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Could be a very naive perception on my part, but I took Romney vying for SOS as him doing so in order to rein in Trump as much as possible.

Possibly.  That's not my perception.  Over the years Romney has flip-flopped on many issues; not just his support for Trump.  That is impacting my view of Romney, but like you, I am speculating.  You may be right.

"...but in contrast to characters like Dick Cheney or Donald Trump it's like comparing a jaywalker or litterbug to an armed robber or rapist!"

This is a bad argument.  Biden is good because others have been worse?  That sets a pretty low standard for evaluating the President of the United States.  By saying that Biden has performed badly, I'm not implying that Bush or Trump were good.  I suggest that we set aside partisanship and objectively judge each of these presidents on their own merits (or lack thereof).   

One was subservient to a despot and was suspicious of NATO, the other regalvanized NATO to thwart said despot's advances. One did everything to deny the threat of Covid, the other did the hard work of doggedly implementing what it took to address it. 

And by the way, the unemployment gains Trump touted so much have been matched or exceeded since his departure. 

I'm no fan of either, but calling Biden unelectable is a bit of a stretch. 

Agreed.  I'm not arguing that Biden was unqualified or that he should not have been elected.  I'm saying that his record as the President, along with other factors, including his age, will make it difficult (in my view impossible) for him to be re-elected.  The Democrats would be smart to run someone else.

It's going to be a very tricky transition to making that switch palatable to the internal powers-that-be should they go that route. Biden would have to magnanimously step aside, and that would be only the beginning of their new troubles, as no one readily comes to mind to capture enough enthusiasm, especially should Trump not get the nomination. There is a pretty deep bench of reasonably electable Republican candidates besides Trump and DeSantis. 

Agreed, but I think De Santis is the clear frontrunner.  

I think most Republicans are just right of center ideologically.  In past years, De Santis would be too far to the right.  But Republicans perceive themselves to be in a cultural war with the far left, and De Santis is willing to take on the Progressives, so Republicans will vote for him, rather than a more moderate candidate who they fear is not strong enough.

Biden magnanimously declaring he won't run again would be huge, because it would enable other Democrats to step forward (with his support).  If Dems start to coalesce around a more moderate candidate by the time debates and early primaries start, then I think Republicans may also move back towards the middle.