Can't blame Bernie. He is doing what he does best.

[beastie boy]

He is leveraging what little influence he has left to its maximum, while he still can.

Bernie is smart enough to know that his "the people" vs "establishment" narrative has fizzled. The Primary results are clear on this. He is now falling back on the "we won on ideological grounds" narrative, which is also unfounded, but this is not yet as obvious as the failure of his populist message. This will become obvious in time, but not yet. Bernie still has space to maneuver, but it is shrinking, and fast. The next debate gives Bernie the opportunity, possibly his last one, to solidify the grounds for demanding and getting concessions from the Democratic Party to include items from his agenda in its platform. This is why he is pushing so hard right now. This will surely change, commensurate with Bernie's ability to retain relevance in this race.

He is unlikely to succeed to the degree he did in 2016. In fact, he is unlikely to retain sufficient relevance to last him until the convention. My sense is, the sooner he makes an endorsement deal with Biden, the better off Bernie's position will be in the end. My guess is, Bernie will endorse Joe by April. Possibly a day or two after Warren's endorsement, but that's a whole different calculus.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I think Satan will be driving a Zamboni before Bernie endorses Biden.

[beastie boy]

4. You are not giving Bernie, or Satan for that matter, enough credit.

Although I am not completely discounting Bernie's belligerence winning over his intellect. Irresistible force vs immovable object. Hard to predict.

[aikoaiko]

6. Bernie has already said he will support Biden if he is the nominee.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Supporting isn't quite the same as endorsing.

[aikoaiko]

9. Ok. He endorsed Obama twice and HRC. I'm sure he will endorse Joe.

[beastie boy]

12. he will surely endorse Biden. He has no choice. The question is when and how.

Will it be before or after Bernie's endorsement becomes meaningless? Will it be a strong endorsement that moves his followers to Biden's side in a meaningful way, or will it be lip service to nominally fulfill his "duty" to the party he claims to be a member of?

[NurseJackie]

17. There's a very narrow window of opportunity where he can influence his disappointed fans...

There's a very narrow window of opportunity where he can influence his disappointed fans. But after that window is closed, it's too late. By then, the disappointment of his "fans" will have already curdled... it will turn into anger and bitterness and resentment... and a strong desire for revenge.

Based on the fact that Bernie is doing absolutely nothing to rein-in the anti-Democrat and anti-Biden rhetoric and lies and smears coming from his top campaign staff (and other trusted high-level surrogates) he's given me zero reason to expect any genuine or sincere or robust endorsement of Joe Biden.

Lip service only, then he'll disappear... leaving his "soldiers" without a leader, and they'll just go rogue. All I'm saying is, we've seen this before... more than once he's made it very clear that he has no allegiance to, and that he's no friend of Democrats or the Democratic party.

[beastie boy]

18. I suspect that this time (unlike '16), there will be far fewer loyal soldiers by Bernie's side than

Bernie's loyal soldiers would lead you to believe. What leads me to this conclusion is that Bernie keeps losing popular support, and unlike Trump's, his base is not rock solid. His base support had not hit bottom yet, which makes me suspect that Bernie's supporters are still in the process of reassessing their loyalties.

[showblue22]

16. He will

But he will go to Vermont and write a book first.

[beachbumbob]

11. exactly, he has never played nice with others

[emmaverybo]

2. Trying to save face. Biden has progressive and pragmatic proposals, I hope the Democratic Party

will not give Bernie an outsized influence on the party platform.

[Cozmo]

3. Who Cares?

He just needs to fade away. The only thing he is good for is to piss people off. For that he gets a gold star. We do not need him, he's working against us.

[msongs]

5. the last big public chance to show off his personality. I suspect ratings will be high nt

[Squinch]

7. Demanding a participation trophy.

[empedocles]

10. Commentators keep on proposing logical, even kind reasons, for what BS will so.

This approach does not seem to have worked through the latest primaries, the BS campaign for the last year some, or the 4 years before that.

It may be that BS, like trump [who he resembles in many startling ways], has just one basic gear - ATTACK!

[betsuni]

13. I agree, he'll stay in the race in order to get concessions in the platform.

Which will consist of making it sound more like his stump speech. Throw in a few more "billionaires" and "fair share" and "the one percent." The fifteen dollar minimum wage, higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, universal health care, income equality, criminal justice reform -- most of what he and his supporters think are his unique issues are already in the 2016 platform anyway. We all have to pretend they're not for some reason. If I have to listen to him going through the list of usual Democratic policies that he claims only he talks about or wants, I will scream.

I just can't see him concede until forced to at the last possible moment. Grudgingly. Then he'll disappear after the convention, like last time, to write a book. It's a pop-up book for juicebox revolutionaries, "My Big Bernie Movement Book." Look for it on Amazon.

[Gothmog]

14. Staying in the primaries and losing by large margins may backfire

sanders not dropping out may help Biden. sanders keeps on losing primaries by large margins nnly strenghten's Joe's position https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/11/no-surprise-bernie-sanders-is-still-all-about-himself-never-party/

Sanders’s remaining in the race should serve several salutary purposes for the party and the country. First, seeing him lose overwhelmingly week after week will dispel the notion that the Democratic Party has moved left, or that he is in a dominant position to negotiate with the overwhelming winner. It’s not clear why the Biden camp should “give” Sanders anything.

Second, it is good to keep Biden in fighting form, continuing to boost turnout and showing, as he did in Philadelphia, how presidential he is. Biden can pivot to the general election, essentially ignoring Sanders. (His planned speech on the coronavirus is the perfect opportunity to leave Sanders out of the discussion entirely.)....

Whoever is to replace Sanders as the standard-bearer for the left — hopefully someone as smart and wonky as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — will need to learn how to win elections. (Hint: It is not by scaring voters or attaching oneself to the socialist label.) When in office, a new generation of leaders on the left will need to learn the art of deal-making rather than waste years, as Sanders has, rabble-rousing but accomplishing nothing. Unlike Sanders, Warren (or whoever else takes the reins) will not be burdened by a record of reflexively praising dictators nor be driven to attack fellow Democrats.

Sanders will end the race at some point, a diminished figure. In retrospect, his wins in 2016 will be seen more as an anti-Hillary Clinton vote than a pro-Sanders vote. How he behaves at Sunday’s debate will determine whether he leaves a bad taste in the mouths of Democrats.

[MrsCoffee]

15. I can blame him. In fact I do and always will.

Don't fucking tell me I can't.

[zackymilly]

19. Sure, Bernie will try to rebuild the house after he tries to burn it down. So nice of him. n/t