They described the real estate developer and reality show star as a candidate who could unite the country.


Jack Mehoff, 19, praised Trump as a "hardworking, smart individual that wants the best for all people in this country that are allowed to be here."

Fred Garvin (@rtjcmi)

4/19/16, 10:39 PM
A new bird just perched itself on Bernie's podium #ImWithHer #FeelTheBern

pic.twitter.com/8Gwta91t4P

But now senior Sanders adviser Tad Devine has telegraphed a much more likely endgame — one that would be a whole lot quieter and less contentious. In an interview with Rachel Maddow, Devine was asked whether this strategy is in sync with Sanders’s high-minded campaign, and he answered, in part:

“The key test is succeeding with voters. In 2008 I wrote a piece that they published in the New York Times right after Super Tuesday, and I argued that super-delegates should wait, should look and listen to what the voters do, and follow the will of the voters. And I can tell you, I got a lot of push-back from the Clinton campaign at the time, when I published that piece.

“But I believe that today — that our super-delegates, that our party leaders, should let the voters speak first. And I think if they do, all the way through the end of the voting, that will strengthen our party, and certainly strengthen our hand — if we succeed with voters between now and June.”

Note that “if.” In one sense, Devine is basically calling on Democrats to be patient and allow the voting to continue until the end. (I’ve argued that there are many good reasons for Sanders to keep going until all the votes have been counted.) But Devine is also clearly indicating that the super-delegates should not contradict the will of the voters, once they’ve all had a chance to speak.

It’s true, by the way, that Devine did argue this in a 2008 New York Times piece. It’s right here! Devine wrote that super-delegates should “ratify the results of the primaries and caucuses in all 50 states,” by supporting the “candidate who has proved to be the strongest in the contest that matters,” which will be determined by “listening to the voters.”

Now, it’s true that Devine did qualify his remarks later in the interview with Maddow, by saying that popular vote totals are potentially misleading in the sense that Sanders has won a lot of smaller caucus states, and noting that if Sanders comes very close in pledged delegates, it would be different than trailing among them by a large margin. But he also said this: “let’s see who’s won the states, let’s see who’s won the delegates, let’s see where we are in June, and I think then we’ll know what to do.”

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AlGiordano ‎@AlGiordano
1. Here's why the "Bernie Bro" thing is key for me, one who does not support Clinton. These dudebros were a problem before Bernie's Campaign

3. I'm referring to a certain type of "activist" who cares more about being "right" and "pure" than about winning. They harm all they touch
2:35 PM - 31 Jan 2016

...

6. The Sina Qua Non of a successful progressive movement is that it must be multi-racial in the US. That's simple demographics...

7. But when white activists go around harassing Black Lives Matter, Michele Obama, Ta-nehisi Coates et al they force us to shun them...

...

9. People who have been trained don't go around insulting natural allies. They persuade, not berate, and learn it

10. So, dudebros, BernieBros, whatever name I use, you're never going to get a free ride here. You are harming all you claim to support.

11. And if you don't want to be identified as such you have two choices: A. Go get training or B. Return to hiding under white sheets.

Bernie Sanders's argument is the same after almost every primary defeat — he has momentum, which suggests he will ultimately overtake Hillary Clinton and win the Democratic presidential nomination. The media generally haven't considered this a convincing case, and after Clinton's blowout win in New York on Tuesday, journalists appear to be on the verge of dismissing it altogether.

There is no momentum coming out of the Empire State — only an even-wider gap in the delegate tally that makes Sanders's continued presence in the race seem futile. He's going home to Vermont (just to rest for a day, he says) looking like a candidate who just got pushed to the margins. When he returns to the campaign trail, he can expect to be covered as if he is realistically out of the running.

News outlets and individual journalists made the implications of Sanders's Big Apple beatdown pretty clear on Tuesday night. They've basically written him off.

...


Sanders has pledged to fight all the way to the convention, and there is no denying his impact on the race — highlighted by his ability to energize Millennials and promote conversations about income inequality. These will likely remain central themes of Sanders stories.
But those stories probably won't characterize Sanders's obvious political skill and appeal as having any plausible shot at propelling him to the top of the Democratic ticket anymore. From here on out, he will be covered as a candidate campaigning for a cause, not a presidential nomination.