How It Ended for Sanders [View all]

[RandySF]

Like Republicans’ attempts to hurt Mr. Trump during the 2016 race, Democrats’ nascent efforts to undermine Mr. Sanders never got off the ground. The few that did were largely ineffective.

There are no more smoke-filled rooms. In the end, Mr. Sanders lost the race himself.

With his devoted base of support, the question facing Mr. Sanders’s campaign was always about his ceiling — not his floor. Could he grow his following from the minority bloc that stuck with him in 2016?

After four years of preparations, more than $100 million in donations and 414 days of campaigning, the answer turned out to be no.

In many state primaries, he performed worse than he did four years ago, despite significantly higher turnout. Efforts to win over black voters, a group he struggled to woo in 2016, largely failed.

The coronavirus pandemic only deepened the challenge for Mr. Sanders, effectively freezing the primary with Mr. Biden well ahead. The question quickly became when — not if — Mr. Sanders would accept defeat.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/politics/how-bernie-sanders-lost.html