Grand Old Party has one last option.

A Trump supporter at a rally in Conroe, Texas. AFP

Late on Halloween night, without any advance notice, Donald Trump suddenly sent an urgent message to George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and every patriotic, staunch supporter of the Republican Party. Including, perhaps, you. He made the most compelling argument that they should come back – at least one more time – to encourage Republicans to take advantage of the only option left to them and reassure them that they did everything they could to make America great again. Trump’s message came late at his third event on the final Thursday of his long campaign. Sitting on stage in Glendale, Arizona, Trump went out of his way to let loyal leaders and followers of the Grand Old Party know that he is no longer the leader you thought or hoped he was. And, quite obviously, you knew that he would no longer be the leader who could make America great again.

Trump has strangely indulged in his own version of the political fantasy of a vengeful attack. He asked his rally audience and a world of news watchers to imagine his most determined political enemy, Liz Cheney, under fire during the war: “Let’s pretend she’s standing there with a rifle and shooting at her with nine guns, okay? Let’s see how she feels about this. You know, with guns pointed at her face.

Think about it. America’s 45th President spoke about the gunshot that struck the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney in the face, whose office was just down the hall from the Oval Office of America’s 43rd President George W. Bush. Trump wanted to make a point about Liz Cheney that would get nods of approval from all the most liberal anti-war doves of the Vietnam War. Indeed, Trump began by making it clear: “She’s a radical war hawk.” But sitting next to his practice interviewer and fawning friend Tucker Carlson, Trump continued to imagine his enemy facing a barrage of artillery fire. It was a moment unlike anything ever seen or heard during the presidential campaign.

Ultimately, Trump ended his horrifying scenario and returned to his point: “You know, they’re all war hawks when they sit in Washington in a nice building and say, ‘Gee, let’s send it, let’s send it.’ 10,000 soldiers straight into the enemy’s mouth.” Liz Cheney, a staunch conservative Republican who took her father’s seat as a member of Congress from Wyoming, was defeated after her leading role in Trump’s impeachment in the House. But now is the time for America’s most prominent Republican figures to consider the full implications of Tuesday’s vote. Do they believe, as do many of Trump’s former military and national security leaders, that Trump would become a clear presidential threat to our security if he were to return to the Oval Office? Do they think it is the duty of America’s famous Republicans to prevent Trump from winning next Tuesday, no matter what?

Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz said they felt it was their duty to cast the only vote that would prevent Trump from winning – by voting for the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. But Mitt Romney, the defeated GOP presidential candidate in 2012 and retiring as a Utah senator this year, won’t go that far. Romney says he can’t and won’t vote for Trump for president, but he won’t vote for Harris either. Like many other Republicans who can’t bring themselves to vote for a Democrat, Romney will be writing for someone who can’t and won’t become president. He and many others will lose their voice by wasting their vote for wellness. It’s a shame because they really are better and more patriotic than this. And they need to do everything they can to ensure that what they know is the worst possible outcome—a return of President Trump who would jeopardize our country—does not happen.

Former President George W. Bush knows everything Mitt Romney knows about the dangers a Trump victory portends. (Indeed, Bush knows everything Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney know: that a write-in vote is a one-time vote. A one-time vote, and therefore not the final patriotic ballot they must vote on.) But Bush refused to do so. say something about how he will vote or what he recommends to everyone who once believed in his leadership. (One of Bush’s daughters, Barbara, just announced she will vote for Harris.)

But Republican leaders and ordinary voters have seen and heard enough. The time for silence and subtlety is over. America needs its former Republican leaders to return to leadership—at least one more time. And don’t just say no to Trump. Tell your followers to vote secretly to make sure you do your patriotic duty and make it a no.