2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Functionally, Clinton will clinch the nomination on June 7. That's just reality [View all]Tom Rinaldo
(22,913 posts)Sanders will only be our nominee if Hillary is indicted - which is an extreme long shot at best. That's what it would take to turn enough Super Delegates against her now - but even with that they would still throw the nod to Biden in a New York minute if Sanders voluntarily folded up his tent.
But that's not why Bernie should not stop fighting. First off, he needs to continue campaigning, building and mobilizing a new Democratic base. That's for the long term, in the short term every delegate he wins makes it clearer to the Party that the views of his supporters can not be safely ignored. After the voting is over, as soon as Sanders endorses Hillary his leverage maxes out. Politics really is hard ball, it is how real power gets brokered. The active cooperation of even the losing side after a heated contest is legitimately subject to barter. Sanders isn't playing poker chips, his voice represents many millions of voters. Their strong loyalty should never be take for granted, nor should anyone foolishly believe that Sanders can simply deliver their loyalty to Clinton. His ability to do so will in large part be determined by what he can say to therm that he has won for them in return. Of course most will simply default over to Clinton - but some won't without a lot of convincing.
It's like labor negotiations where neither side really wants to see a strike. The closer a impasse gets to the deadline, the more pressure builds on both sides to reach a reasonable outcome. My hope is that it all gets sorted out successfully after the end of the primary season but before the convention opens. But the real threat of a strike should negotiations break down is part of what drives the bargaining forward to a just conclusion.
I strongly believe that Sanders wants to see the Democratic Party unite against Trump, but he also knows that his amazingly successful insurgency campaign this year is speaking to issues that have festered for decades that will not simply fade away regardless of who wins in November. Politics as usual can not simply be allowed to resume as usual.