Looking back now, it’s clear that Bernie Sanders reached the apex of his political power in the weeks leading up to the June 7 California primary. His improbable rise had galvanized millions. He’d put a scare into Hillary Clinton. Although he had no plausible shot by that point of winning the Democratic nomination, he looked capable of carrying California, which would have inflicted real damage on his rival. Clinton understood this and signaled she was ready to bargain for his endorsement. He never placed the call.

Sanders lost California, and he lost the nomination. And with each day that he withholds his endorsement, he loses a little more of the political capital he gained during the primaries. Sanders undoubtedly shifted the balance of power in the Democratic Party and exposed its generational future. But his personal involvement in these changes is quickly fading.
History is full of examples of candidates who ran thrilling primary races, came up short, and then translated that excitement into tangible gains: a key cabinet post (Clinton), a future candidacy (Ronald Reagan, Gary Hart), or influence in the next administration through personnel appointments or policy commitments.

Sanders could have ranked among them. But, for reasons rooted in his personality and aloof political style, it looks like he won’t. He’s trapped by an inability, baffling even to some of his supporters, to end his campaign on advantageous terms. For weeks he’s swerved like a loose fire hose between gruff suggestions of support for Clinton—saying he’ll do all he can to stop Donald Trump—and threats to keep fighting her straight through the convention, possibly expecting she’d be indicted for maintaining a private e-mail server as secretary of state. (On July 6, the day after the FBI said it wouldn’t recommend any charges, the Department of Justice said none would be pressed.)

Asked recently by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell why he wouldn’t back Clinton, Sanders replied as if the primary battle were still raging: “It’s not a question of my endorsement. It’s a question of the American people understanding that Secretary Clinton is prepared to stand with them as they work longer hours for low wages, as they cannot afford health care, as their kids can’t afford to go to college. Make it clear that she is on their side, that she is prepared to take on Wall Street, the drug companies, fossil fuel industry. Deal with the global crisis of climate change. I have no doubt that if Secretary Clinton makes that position, those positions clear, she will defeat Trump and defeat him by a very wide margin.” Here was Sanders still piously insisting on complete capitulation—even though Clinton beat him by a larger margin than Barack Obama had beaten her eight years earlier.