Here's an Idea, Senator Sanders:

[MineralMan]

You think the Tuesday primaries should be cancelled? Fine. Announce your withdrawal from the primary race this morning and strongly endorse Joe Biden for the nomination and for election in November. Release all of your current delegates to vote on the first ballot for Biden.

Then, we can cancel all of the remaining primaries and nominate Joe Biden by acclamation at the convention.

Will you do that, Bernie?

No?

Then the primaries will be held and you'll still lose.

[George II]

1. Is he saying they should be cancelled tomorrow? I know some of his people on twitter....

....are saying they should be cancelled, probably only because he's going to get slaughtered.

[TwilightZone]

4. He hinted at it on CNN.

"I would hope that governors listen to the public health experts, and what they are saying is — you just indicated — we don't want gatherings of more than 50 people. I'm thinking about some of the elderly people sitting behind the desks, registering people, doing all that stuff. Does that make a lot of sense? I'm not sure that it does."

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2020-democratic-debate-live-updates/index.html

[MineralMan]

5. Apparently, he suggested it in an interview after the debate.

[relayerbob]

25. Operative part: after

He knows Biden won

[MineralMan]

26. Yes, indeed he does know.

[djg21]

61. I thought he wanted to postpone the primaries.

So he can continue slamming Biden for a month or so more in a misguided effort to win the nomination or drag Biden farther to the left. We are repeating 2016.

[showblue22]

2. He's already lost.

He just wants more time to trash our nominee.

[MineralMan]

3. Exactly.

He knows it, too.

[calimary]

21. No kidding!

Do for your country, NOT for your damn ego, Bernie. Step away now while you can still go out gracefully. You can look like a hero that way, rather than an angry, bitter, shriveled-up curmudgeon. Stop scolding and pointing, and BE the uniter you like to claim to be.

[Maru Kitteh]

70. BOOM!

Same old, same old.

[NurseJackie]

6. If he cared anything at all about the health crisis, he'd concede and withdraw immediately...

... that's my opinion. Others may have a different opinion, but that one is MINE.



Joe/Kamala or Biden/Harris 2020!!
Jump on the Biden Bandwagon & abandon the revolution!!

[MineralMan]

7. I agree, but I doubt he will do that.

So, he can do it after tomorrow's primaries.

I wish he'd do the right thing right now, though.

[NurseJackie]

8. It's hard for a candidate to collect "donations" if he (or she) isn't running.

So that could be a big motivation too. (But what it says about the candidate who puts donations and continuing to fight for a lost cause over unity is something that's not at all flattering.)

[MineralMan]

11. Very true. There's also the matter of irrelevance.

Once a candidate drops out, that candidate ceases to be relevant to the election. Senator Sanders cannot stand feeling irrelevant, even though he actually is.

[NurseJackie]

13. "even though he actually is."

even though he actually is.

The candidate that I support will be one who lives in the real world... who puts the well-being of others, our nation, our planet, above his own ego.

[MineralMan]

14. Bernie Sanders has an ego that is second to none.

You don't continue to declare yourself to be an "Independent" in a two party world without having an ego that is almost Trumpian. You don't continue on in a campaign that is clearly doomed without a massive ego.

While it does take a very strong sense of self to run for President, the belief that nobody else can do the job as well as you can is pure ego. That's never true. Believing that you are losing only because "the system is rigged" is also a symptom of an overestimation of yourself. More ego.

Bernie is an iconoclast, pure and simple. He thinks everything that is held to be important needs to be torn down, and that he can rebuild the American belief system into something he thinks is better. More of his massive ego speaking.

He should withdraw today, but will not. His massive ego will not allow him to admit defeat.

[NurseJackie]

15. It's that way of thinking that only allows his "followers" to become bitter and resentful.

He's missing another golden opportunity to keep himself relevant and to put a positive postscript to his failing campaign... if only he'd use this moment to promote and encourage unity and healing rather than a continuation of stubbornness and distrust.

[MineralMan]

16. I think Sanders has two kinds of followers.

The first kind see him as a candidate with ideas that might improve governance in this country. When push comes to shove, though, that kind of Sanders supporter will vote for the Democratic nominee in the end.

The second kind of follower has a revolutionary political philosophy and believes that only a dramatic and drastic change can save the nation, or believes that we would be better off with no government at all. That kind of follower of Bernie Sanders will not vote for the Democratic candidate. In truth, they don't really even like Bernie all that much. They are interested only in their point of view and reject all others.

In many ways, people on both the far right and far left prefer chaos to order. The right wing has Donald Trump, who represents chaotic government better than any former President. The leftmost Sanders supporters count on Bernie to lead the nation into chaos, as well, through an inability to form coalitions.

When either extreme holds power, we are in big, big trouble.

[NurseJackie]

17. The tips of the horseshoe almost touch.

[MineralMan]

18. So it seems.

I wonder what that bell curve would look like if you connected the left and right ends together. Probably something like a swollen boil.

The difference between anarchy and extreme libertarianism is very small actually. Both value the individual over the society, so both end up causing similar chaos.

[NurseJackie]

20. We'll just have to lance it!

[MineralMan]

23. Stand well back if you do!

[NurseJackie]

32. Ewwww!

[kcr]

69. That might have made sense in 2016

But I don't get the first crowd this time around when we had Warren. I think there's a little something more with that first crowd because I could have easily been a member in '16 if Sanders and many of his supporters hadn't quickly put me off. Their sticking with Sanders confirms it.

[oasis]

9. Trump's presidency is dangerous. Drop out and let's go after him.

Otherwise, be quiet and take your lumps at the polls.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes. Don't suggest, though, that primaries

be postponed or cancelled. Such suggestions are just a way of putting off the inevitable for Sanders.

[oasis]

44. Bernie may have staff "bitter enders" pushing him to remain in

the race and extend the primary dates. I doubt he is getting sound advice from his inner circle.

[Thekaspervote]

12. I'd sign on to that

[MineralMan]

19. Thanks. I think you just did.

[Orrex]

22. It's almost as though his ego is more important than the people

Say it ain't so!

[LizBeth]

38. Right.

[LanternWaste]

24. Give him a call and tell us how the conversation goes.

Or simply continue with your imaginary conversation with him.

[MineralMan]

28. ..

[redstatebluegirl]

27. He doesn't care about the country just himself, sound like anyone we know?

[NurseJackie]

31. Yes it does.

I'm sick of it. And obviously the voters are as well. Did you see this?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287671016

538 Forecast of delegate count at the end of the primaries:
Biden - 2,430 (439 more than 1991)
Sanders - 1,339 (652 short of 1991)
Gabbard - 45

Others with delegates:

Warren -72
Bloomberg - 61
Buttigieg - 26
Klobuchar - 7

Chances of getting to 1991:

Biden - 99 in 100, >99%
No One - <1 in 100, 0.3%
Sanders - <1 in 100, 0.1%
Gabbard - <1 in 100, 0.0%

[redstatebluegirl]

43. There is no path for him he just can't walk away from the attention.

[totodeinhere]

29. He doesn't want to do that because he sincerely believes that he would be a better president.

Not everyone would agree with that assessment, but if he really believes that what he has to offer is best for the American people then why should he drop out?

[MineralMan]

30. Why should he drop out? Because he is sure to lose,

and because we're in the middle of an epidemic. Those are are just two of the reasons.

[totodeinhere]

33. I think as long as he has a mathematical chance he will stay in the race.

Also, staying in the race may push Joe Biden to the left which is where Bernie believes that Joe should be.

[MineralMan]

35. He doesn't really have even that chance.

The polls are very revealing. He has picked up the votes of all those who would have voted for other candidates who have already dropped out. I suspect he's even getting most of the Warren supporters' votes.

There is no longer a path for Sanders to the nomination. Sorry, Bernie, but it's over.

[totodeinhere]

36. He may wish to go to the convention with the most delegates possible even though as appears

very likely he will not be the nominee. That might allow him maximum leverage over the formation of the party's platform.

[MineralMan]

39. That trick will not work again like it did in 2016.

It just won't. He has gotten concessions from Biden already. He should be satisfied with those.

I'm sorry, but he is now obstructing things, not running for office. His opportunity in 2020 has passed, if it ever existed in the first place, which I doubt.

[Hortensis]

46. Nor will trying once again to steal the nomination work. He'll

be there to play to his mean, dishonest base, and further goals psychologists would probably be best able to describe, by sowing as much trouble for Democrats as he can, lying as much as possible about Democrats in the national spotlight, and undermining as much trust in Democrats as he can manage.

He shouldn't be there at all, of course, but some well-meaning people didn't do their homework.

[LizBeth]

42. Maxim leverage over the party. Do you know how that sounds and how it turns people off

his ego and righteousness after soundly being voted against by the people? Maxim leverage? Wow. Then he and his supporters need to just let go of being for the people because this is exactly the opposite of that.

[Demsrule86]

49. He will be shunned at the convention as a person who only helps Trump and I for one believe he gets

nothing.

[totodeinhere]

53. If we want to win in November we had better not do that. That would turn off millions of

Bernie's supporters and almost guarantee a Trump victory.

[LizBeth]

41. Then he is not concerned about the people and quit pretending he is, or using it as an excuse

for a reprieve of a total loss on Tuesday.

[totodeinhere]

51. Because he believes that he would make a better president who could serve the people better

that means he is not concerned about the people? Got it.

[LizBeth]

52. It doesn't matter he "thinks". The voters says otherwise. So he takes his ego over what other people

vote. That is ... Oh what would be the best word?

[totodeinhere]

54. He may well believe that it would be disrespectful the voters who have not voted yet

to deny them a voice in the process. After all, less than half of the delegates have been chosen so far.

[LizBeth]

55. Sanders knows he will be knocked on his ass, and out of the race. Now he has Trump and Gov

Republicans helping out.

[LizBeth]

66. Because Sanders is trying to prolong his ass kicking and Trump and Repub jumped in, ya.

AN honorable honest man would do the right thing for the voters. But, Sanders won't because, ego.

[LizBeth]

58. Your vote doesn't. Sanders lost and Lives.

[LizBeth]

60. Once the candidate has lost, it doesn't, or your vote doesn't matter. Where is the logic otherwise?

And Lives. That is what matters, right? Pragmatism.

[LizBeth]

65. Yes. He has.

[LizBeth]

40. I have someone that feels like that with their candidate Tulsi. Sander lost. Tulsi lost.

Each and their supporters think only they are best to be President. Warren literally would have been best, she lost.

If Sanders truly was the best for the job, looking at the numbers, acknowledging the loss, he would stop it here and hand it to Biden and show the nation, that he was totally Presidential. Keeping this going only confirms that he is not Presidential material.

[Demsrule86]

48. He doesn't have a mathematical chance...and this is completely selfish on his part...and only helps

Trump.

[totodeinhere]

50. Not true. Joe Biden has a 150 delegate lead with 1991 needed on the first ballot.

To get to 1991 delegates Bernie would have to win 1252 of the 2183 delegates remaining to be chosen. So he absolutely has a mathematical chance. Realistically he has very little chance but he does have mathematical chance so you are wrong.

[theLJhog]

34. cancelling an election is not a good idea

don't give trump any ideas.

[handmade34]

37. ...

[Galraedia]

45. Bernie Sanders is only in it for the book sales

Running for president this long when he is clearly never going to win is just his way of getting more attention and publicity for when he writes another book.

[mcar]

47. That is a very good idea

No need for primaries if there is a nominee. For the safety of the country, and considering the polls, Bernie should do this.

[MineralMan]

64. Thanks for dropping by...

[LizBeth]

67. So what we cheat now using a crisis as an excuse? No. You think, Sanders thinks. The voters said.

[wyldwolf]

68. I hope the admins put their 'no bashing the nominee' rule in affect tomorrow night.

[democrattotheend]

71. I don't think any of these elections would be canceled if Bernie dropped out

All these states have other elections scheduled for the same day.

[LongtimeAZDem]

72. Not all of them, I suspect; we only had the one item on our ballot