The establishment GOP doesn’t care any longer about the GOP base. The base is not needed. In effect the establishment GOP have been bought and paid for by the same entities that bought and paid for the democrats. Their goal is to keep conservatives out of Congress or at least out of the Senate.
There are election laws on the books that keep McDaniel from accessing the ballot as an independent or as a write-in. But federal courts almost always rule against states when candidates are serious and well-supported. McDaniel will need to get a TRO with a federal injunction order to run as an independent or as a write-in. This is not difficult to do and it does not take a long time. Federal courts will not allow Mississippi to disenfranchise hundreds and hundreds of thousands of voters using state election law that is based on order and manageability of elections rather than the right of the people to nominate the candidate they think best represents them. Case law highly favors McDaniel in this.
But before going to federal court over ballot access we first wait until the state election challenge is ruled on.
Any party should be able to nominate any candidate they want and the rules for ballot access should be the same for all parties and independents, not one set of rules for Republicans and Democrats and another set for everyone else.