Pretty sure Bernie will not win the nomination.

[boston bean]

If he loses Michigan, he must concede that night.

[LaurenOlimina]

1. He won't concede or win. It'll be 2016 all over again.

I hope I'm wrong.

[OnDoutside]

2. I don't think you are wrong.

[pandr32]

28. I don't think you're wrong, either.

[Skid Rogue]

44. Sad to say, but we're replaying 2016.

Hopefully this will be Bernie's last role as gadfly extraordinaire.

[calimary]

3. He won't.

He'll go on scolding, and pointing, and kvetching about how this huge avalanche of young voters is gonna come out of the woodwork and change the tide of the election. Just like in 2016. When he sat out all summer til the convention, holding out for all those voters who hadn't been accounted for yet.

And they never showed up.

Maybe they never existed to begin with?

[relayerbob]

4. No

People need to quit saying others "Must" do this or that. Robert Reich pissed me off when he said Liz supporters "must" go to Sanders, for example.

1/3 of the country has voted. It takes 50% of the delegates to win, and I'm in the 2/3 that hasn't voted. Just as I asked teh Sanders folks when they insisted Biden drop out after Nevada, could ya'll please let the rest of us vote?

[LisaM]

8. Yes, "should" would be better than "must".

In 2016, his refusal to drop out tied up a lot of money HRC was trying to raise for down ticket races. She had a fundraising arm that earmarked a percentage after her own campaign expenses. But she couldn't tap it because she had to campaign for what, two extra months?

[NurseJackie]

5. I agree. He must. But I have very low LOW expectations with regard...

I agree. He must. But I have very low LOW expectations with regard to whether he'll do the right thing or not. After the last convention Bernie missed a golden opportunity to demonstrate his leadership qualities and help to soothe the tender feelings of his most ardent supporters. But that was a test that he would fail. Instead of being a source of comfort and encouraging unity, he remained silent for many weeks... thus allowing their feelings of disappointment and sadness to morph into a terribly ugly concoction of bitterness and anger and resentment (which sadly, manifested itself in many unhealthy and unproductive ways.) Even on Election Day itself, Jane couldn't resist getting in on the bitter-bandwagon as she, too, failed the test.

I guess what I'm saying here is that I honestly have no reason to believe that this time will be any different than it was after the last convention. Based on what I've seen so far, it's clear to me that neither Bernie nor his campaign has learned anything from the past, so why should this be any different?

Heaven help us all.

[Under The Radar]

6. No need to push. He can stay in as long as he wishes

We want his supporters. We need the young voters that he has brought into the process.
Trump is already spreading the Rumors that Bernie was cheated, let us not add to that with humiliation. We must be inclusive and united.

[democrattotheend]

14. Thank you!

I don't understand what the people calling for him to drop out hope to accomplish, other than pissing off his supporters (and some of us who are undecided but are waiting for the chance to participate in the primary process). I was for Warren and am not thrilled with either remaining option, but the more threads I see demanding that Bernie drop out the more likely I am to vote for him when my state finally gets to vote in late April.

In 2008 Hillary fought for voters in every state to have a say and even though I was an Obama supporter I agreed with her.

[Under The Radar]

35. Hilary was one of the most qualified people to run as president in our history

[democrattotheend]

36. Agreed

Even though I supported Bernie in the primaries I was proud to vote for her in November. Not sure what that has to do with my post, though.

[Under The Radar]

38. You wrote

“In 2008 Hillary fought for voters in every state to have a say and even though I was an Obama supporter I agreed with her.“
I was just commenting, not intended to change discussion

[NCProgressive]

45. The longer he stays in, the longer he raises false hopes in his supporters

and the bigger is the letdown and then anger. They are already angry.

Sanders should drop out as soon as Michigan is called and endorse Biden so his supporters have some time to grieve and accept the reality BEFORE the convention.

[Dem4Life1102]

7. I doubt he will

Neither did Clinton in 08 after it became apparent that she couldn't win the nomination. But Clinton did concede as soon as the primaries were over, months before the convention.

[Happy Hoosier]

9. He won't. His ego would never allow that.

He really thinks he is The One.

[ehrnst]

27. +1000.

I think he actually believes that what benefits Bernie is therefore in the interest of the nation.

[NCProgressive]

47. Bernie runs for Bernie only - he doesn't care about anything else.

That reminds me of another politician ......

[TexasTowelie]

10. I don't expect him to concede.

However, if Biden continues to pull further ahead then Bernie should refrain from any criticism of Biden and not paying for any advertising critical of Biden.

I don't have an issue with Bernie not conceding until the final primary in June, but if he is behind then he should be prepared to concede the following day rather than waiting until the convention in July.

[ehrnst]

23. Bernie decides what is best for Bernie, and if that means running negative ads, he'll run them.

If that means not conceding when Joe gets 1991, then he won't concede.

See also: endorsing Cenk, despite many who were on the ground in CA warning him to stay away from that race.

[democrattotheend]

37. I agree with your second point

I was pretty annoyed at him for not doing so in 2016. Based on what he said on Rachel the other night, I don't think he will hold out again this year. He feels the process is more fair this year, which is part of what he was holding out for in 2016, and so he is prepared to stick by what he said about whoever gets the most pledged delegates should be the nominee. I suppose he could change his mind later on, but I think it's unlikely. He didn't leave himself a lot of wiggle room this time.

IDK if he shouldn't attack Biden at all if he is behind, but I do think he should refrain from personal attacks, which he has so far. If he even hints at giving any legitimacy to the Burisma nonsense I'm done with him completely.

[NCProgressive]

48. The process being unfair is just a spiel to hold out

[democrattotheend]

11. Please stop saying this

I was going to post this a couple days ago, before Warren dropped out, but I didn't get the chance. Demanding that candidates drop out does nothing but insult his or her supporters and make them harden against your candidate, not to mention pissing off those of us in later states who are already pissed about not having the same choices voters in the early states had. And it's not like the candidates are going to come here and decide to drop out based on people on this forum demanding it, so I really don't understand what you hope to gain.

It's especially ironic to see so much of this coming from supporters of a candidate who was left for dead a week ago. This has been an incredibly volatile primary season and anything can happen. Please let everyone vote and stop demanding that the process be short-circuited.

[RDavisJ1]

13. I agree with you.. let people vote.. but...

Let's remember that Sanders and his folks were calling on Joe and others to drop out after NH. Let people vote. But the argument from them was to get behind the candidate who could win and stop dividing the party. Interesting that now the shoe is going on the other foot it's something bad.

My personal stance, it's their money and their campaign. They can do as they wish. But to be held to the same standards that were held before Super Tuesday is fair game.

[democrattotheend]

18. When did Bernie call on Joe to drop out?

Have a link for that?

I have no doubt some of Bernie's supporters on here may have done so, and I'm pretty sure I called them out on it too. I even called out fellow Obama supporters in 2008 who demanded that Hillary drop out.

I hate the way the primary process is structured, where people in half or more of the states either get no choice at all, have far fewer choices than the early states, and/or have a choice on paper but the result is all but decided before we even get the chance to vote. And I hate how the media gins things up and insists that "there are only two lanes out of [state]" because they want the horse race to go on for as long as possible but don't want to pay for embedded staff on too many campaigns. The talking heads yap for hours and hours about whether a candidate has any path forward despite the fact that more than half the delegates have not been voted for yet, and they force good people out of the race with their nonsense.

[RDavisJ1]

20. 100% agree

We need to do a 1/4 primary with ranked ballots. Meaning that there are four primary dates, no caucuses. We divide up the states into 4 groups. Lower delegate states go first. End with the higher delegate states. That would solve the problems, in my estimation.

As far as Bernie calling on someone to get out, he didn't. I meant his supporters. I'm very involved on twitter and new to here so can't speak to what goes on in here, but I can to twitter.

[democrattotheend]

40. I agree. I called the Bernie supporters who were saying those things out too

In response to a post by a Bernie supporter calling for essentially general election rules to prevent people from criticizing Bernie, I said

This forum hasn't moved to general election rules yet. And probably won't for quite some time. I am disappointed, and a little stunned, to see Sanders supporters of all people act like he's already won when 47 states and the territories have yet to vote. In 2016 we fought for him not to be written off and for every state to have the chance to vote before Hillary was declared the nominee, even though she was well ahead of him by the end. That's what we believed in then. It's what Bernie believed in (and hopefully still does).

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=581753

[ehrnst]

24. Did you post this response on any of the numerous OPs about how Bernie was the inevitable winner

and the others, especially Warren, should just drop out and back Sanders for the "good" of the country?

[democrattotheend]

32. Yes, I did

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=581753

[ehrnst]

34. Good.

[Starry Messenger]

12. He's trying to rerun 2016, so I don't think he'll drop out

He’s incredibly dogmatic and predictable at this point

[Renew Deal]

16. The system is more clear cut now.

He won't be able to beg super delegates for help.

[ehrnst]

25. He has changed his mind on that before.

[Renew Deal]

15. He'll have a hard time going past St. Patricks day

[ehrnst]

17. No, he will not concede. Not even when Joe gets 1991...

[democrattotheend]

19. Yes, he will

He made that pretty clear on Rachel the other day. If Joe gets to 1991, there'd be no point in continuing, and even if Joe gets a plurality, Bernie will probably concede - he pretty much committed to that the other night. It's possible he changes his mind, but I doubt it. Unlike in 2016, he's committed all along to supporting the eventual nominee even if it's not him.

[ehrnst]

22. He also said that he'd release his comprehensive medical records by the first of the year,

....then by the first primary.... then wound up just releasing doctors' notes and sending his spox out to accuse anyone in the press who pointed all this out of "persecution" along the lines of "birtherism."

So I'll believe it when I see it.

[LizBeth]

31. True. His word does not count for much. That is a 180 from what he ran on in 2015.

Amazing the shifts when we get to know someone and they show their true self.

[R B Garr]

21. He must concede, the difference being that we have

seen the results of this situation before when we did it his way. The continued hostility is of no use to anyone, not then and not now.

[ehrnst]

26. I think Bernie's campaign will do what Bernie believes is best for Bernie,

even when there is no possibility of a nomination.

[R B Garr]

29. That sounds familiar, but more about ego.

What a shame that would be.

[ehrnst]

30. I think that

Bernie has come to believe that anything that benefits Bernie is therefore a benefit to the nation.

[Gothmog]

33. I agree

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[radius777]

39. Agree. MI is the true test for Sanders' theory

that the white working class, particularly in the Midwest, is clamoring for populism, why they voted for Trump but 'overlooked' his racism and really want the type of left-populism offered by Sanders.

The centrist Dem case has always been that these voters are not as populist as they seem, they voted for Reagan after all, and do support some level of globalism/trade etc, which they benefit from on some level as do all Americans (cheaper goods, imports, etc).

So if Biden the centrist Dem wins - and Bernie the leftwing populist loses - that effectively settles the argument I would think.

Add to the fact that the March 17th states Bernie is going to get crushed in AZ, FL, IL - and likely lose in OH if he lost in MI.

[fleabiscuit]

42. I think there is a good chance he will take a medical out and cease his run. nt

[ChubbyStar]

43. Thanks magic 8 ball

[fleabiscuit]

46. More of a face saving sleight of hand. nt