As a Clinton supporter, I have no problem with Bernie staying in the race until the end

[scheming daemons]

A) It keeps the spotlight still on the Democratic side somewhat. As soon as the race is decided, all the media coverage goes solely to the GOP until their race wraps up.

B) Debates. Hillary needs a sparring partner between now and the fall to have debates with to hone the message and keep her on her toes.

C) Turnout. A lot of down-ballot races are being decided in these primaries too. It behooves the Democratic party to still have at least a somewhat interesting race so they voters still come out.


I think what you WILL see, though, is Hillary's rhetoric shifting almost solely to attacking Trump and contrasting herself with Trump. She won't attack Bernie at all.

And Bernie will continue to push his agenda, which he should. By giving it a national hearing between now and the convention, he forces it to be talked about. He works to get it into the party platform.

Sometime late spring or early summer, when it has become clear to Sanders that he will not have a path to the number of delegates he needs, he will gracefully bow out and forcefully endorse Hillary Clinton.

He will then get a prominent time slot for a speech at the Democratic Party convention, in which he will bring the house down in publicly shaming Trump and endorsing Hillary.


So stay in, Bernie. You raised the money. You have a message. The SCOTUS said that money is speech... use your money to keep speaking.

[auntpurl]

1. As a fellow Hillary supporter, I agree with everything you've said. nt

[RobertEarl]

19. Bernie needs to go hard against Hillary

He needs to open up and show the country just what we are dealing with.

Trump is getting all kinds of exposure for going hard and the press is ignoring Bernie because he's so nice and treats everyone with kids gloves.

BIG MISTAKE BERNIE

Take off the gloves and fight fire with fire.

[Happenstance24]

31. Yeah, that won't be happening.

If anything he'll go softer on her now that he knows he can't win (and he knows this. Divine is a numbers/delegate guy.). The last thing Bernie wants is a Republican as President or to in any way seem like the Nader of 2016. Bernie has said as much at each debate. How many times does he have to say he'd rather have Hillary over the Pugs? That was when he thought he was for sure gonna win pre-Super Tuesday. Now he knows his path is almost non-existent he will temper his attacks on her. Watch and see.

[RobertEarl]

32. He can win

He just needs to go harder.

[peacebird]

2. How kind of you.

[merrily]

4. I know, right?

[LisaM]

3. I don't know where all these so-called demands that he leave the race are from

I've seen some posts that seem to conclude Hillary will win, but where has anyone ever said Sanders should drop out?

[scheming daemons]

5. I haven't seen them either, but Bern supporters are convinced that he is being pressured to bow out

[Chichiri]

6. K&R nt

[NCTraveler]

7. That is very close to how I feel now.

I do think Sanders will have the money to stay in until the end in a very noticeable way. I believe that late spring time you mention is when you will see his rhetoric drastically change. He will stay on his economic message very aggressively but will not attack or contrast directly with Clinton anymore.

I think he will run ads in states up until the end and campaign hard until the end. As long as he has the money stream he owes it to his supporters and I don't imagine the whole stream will come even close to drying up. He is going to help Clinton while keeping his clout.

[nichomachus]

8. Mrs. Clinton's biggest threat is time

Right now, Bernie is predicted to win all the remaining states but four. Mrs. Clinton has already picked all the low-hanging fruit. She is great coming out of the gate, but doesn't have what it takes for the long haul -- remember 2007-2008?

And the more people see and hear from her, the less they like her. Right now, she's getting narrow victories in states that should have been a landslide for her. Her biggest victories have been in states that will vote GOP in November.

It is far from over. In fact, Mrs. Clinton may have already peaked.

[Hoyt]

9. I know he will stay the course, but it will waste a lot of energy, time and money that should be

going toward beating the GOPers.

[NurseJackie]

10. These are my thoughts as well ...

... it weakens the party for the final battle against the GOP.

[whatchamacallit]

11. Tough shit

it's called democracy.

[Hoyt]

12. Not really.

[whatchamacallit]

13. I know you hate having the coronation disrupted

but this is how it works.

[Hoyt]

16. Well, most voters disagree with you -- that's democracy. I see no reason to think voters will

change their mind.

[whatchamacallit]

18. I live in California

I'm not amenable to being disenfranchised by foaming Hillary supporters or a corrupt party apparatus.

[Hoyt]

21. Then you don't really care about GE. California looks like another Clinton victory.

[whatchamacallit]

25. Don't really care about Hoyt's crystal ball

IMO every voter should have an opportunity to weigh-in on the nominee. As far as the GE is concerned I'm voting for Sanders... regardless.

[Hoyt]

27. Like I said, you don't care about the outcome. Some of us do.

[whatchamacallit]

30. Bullshit

I just don't care for more of the same.

[Armstead]

26. Might as well delay the ennui and blandness as long as possible

Rah,rah,rah. Beat the Republicans. Forget the issues. Rah, rah,rah, beat the Republicans. Issues? Naw we don't want any of those,. Rah, rah,rah....

[Goblinmonger]

20. So we shouldn't try to move our Dem nominee to the left?

To me, that seems like a fantastic thing to do if we are going to be stuck with Clinton in Nov. Let's make sure she knows we don't want a conservative Democrat in the office. Unless that's what you want, then you probably don't want her pushed to the left.

[Hoyt]

22. I think you are digging her a deep hole for the GE.

[Goblinmonger]

28. If she goes conservative Democrat

Trump will attack her from the left and right. It would be nice if the attack only came from the right.

[Armstead]

24. Yes it is time to stop beling liberal and get to the real message...

Tapioca nothingness flavored with "We're not the Republicans."

[book_worm]

14. It's his decision and if he wants to stay in, fine.

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. I agree: I also think we are all owed a full accounting of the vote

None of this "He would have won were he not stabbed in the back by Clinton/DNC/media/etc."

I want us all to really see whether people vote for Bernie's platform or not

[kentuck]

17. What's fair is fair...

Hillary has a whole bunch of "super-delegates" already committed to her. However, should she get those automatically? If Bernie wins a fair number of states, shouldn't he receive the "super delegates" from those states???

[casperthegm]

23. As a Sanders supporter I have no problem with Hillary staying in until the end

Competition is always good. And I'm sure Bernie will give a gracious nod when he gets the nomination.

[gwheezie]

29. Either Bernie or Hillary should stay in until there's no chance.

You never know what might happen, best to have someone one prepared to be nominated.