They know that their voterbase is literally dying and are desperately trying to pivot.

I don't know about that. Elder and Ramaswamy are purely in it for the Grift. Scott is at the end of his political career and ready to move to the private sector, so this is more of an audition for a job in corporate. Haley is the sacrificial lamb of the Moderate Republicans, convinced she has a chance of saving the party from itself. Meanwhile, Hutchinson and Pence are running purely to out Evangelical one another, likely also for the Grift, but also because they're dipshits who think God gives them special powers.

Only Trump and Ron are serious contenders. Everyone else is operating on ulterior motives or delusions of grandeur.