Candidates withdraw before the primary process has completed pretty much every election cycle. Sanders supporters aren't unique in supporting a candidate who no longer has any chance in the race and should withdraw. It happens to most voters every cycle. Only one candidate wins and the others withdraw when their campaigns are no longer viable. Should we still have 25 people in the race? By that logic, why should any of them have dropped out?

The race is clearly over. Sanders is just wasting everyone's time and energy at this point. Just because he can stay in the race doesn't mean he should.

Tony says,

Should Kamala Harris be an option on every remaining ballot? She has just as much a chance to win the nomination as Sanders does. Why don't her voters get the same choice? How about Marianne Williamson?

Again, should all 25+ candidates still be on every ballot? If not, why not?

There's nothing stopping Sanders supporters from writing him in on their primary ballot if he's not on the ballot wherever that's an option. It will have the exact same influence on the race at this point - none.

Sanders isn't unique and neither are his supporters. He and they just don't want to accept that the race is over. It doesn't make them special. It just means they're in denial just like everyone else who didn't want to accept that their candidate wasn't going to be the nominee. Welcome to politics.

You make a good point about remaining voters' write-in option, so I agree.

That the primary structure keeps him on those states' ballots means that you have to trust that everyone gets a say. What's irrelevant is the argument that he's not unique. Who cares. He's in the party.

That he chooses to remain in the race isn't going to make or break the party's unity. It's just not.

Voters have spoken so far, and if you're listening, you wouldn't want to just shut down because your candidate's numbers show an unbeatable.

We're going for party's GOTV engagement of the most voters it can.

This constant drumbeat of Bernie dropping out does not help that.

And he and his supporters would be in exactly the same position as the other two dozen candidates.

Instead, his campaign is still running false ads about Biden and Social Security and taking pot-shots at the party.

How does that help again? The "he's only trying to help" meme is one of the most hilariously ludicrous in political history.

It's not up to us to second guess the continuance of a candidate. We either support them as a Democrat or we don't.

Call his behavior all kinds of names that impugn his character. That there is what doesn't help.

Lol, thanks for the laugh.

Sanders considers the Democratic Party as much the Establishment as he does the Republican Party. He has always considered them interchangeable opponents of revolutionary action. He wishes not to ally with or assist the Democratic Party, rather he imagines he can take it over, make it over into his own image, and having thus breached the castle wall, use his new revolutionary party as the tool of destruction for the remaining institutions of the Establishment. A course of action, on reflection, rather like that of a virus towards a living cell.

This is hardly new and previously hidden information. That he has made himself a sufficient pest that the leadership must deal with him is one more fact you seem to be pretending not to know.

for Bernie to win.

I am in a late primary state listed above. In closer contests, we would be important. In not-so-close contests, the nomination could be decided before we vote. It's just life for having a later primary. With California now going on ST instead of June, that is increased.

And you still may have state contests that have primaries.

concede...and move to the general...tired of the excuses and whining from Sanders supporters...not saying you...Sanders lost...he needs to got back to the Senate and fight for the people of this country in the corona virus era...not to tilt at windmills...he lost now let's move on...a primary picks a candidate and that has happened...so it is over.

have to vote for congresspersons, judges, state legislators, etc. We can’t have our primary cancelled.

If the Democratic Party in NM can manage to shift everything to vote-by-mail before June, I would welcome that, if not though, I’ll be going to the polls, in person, in June

I live in a May primary state. There is almost never a choice for us. That's normal with a 4 month long primary season. It's not pernicious or aimed at Sanders.

The thing that Sanders followers have to accept is that there's only one winner... and everyone else has lost. There's nothing special about Sanders that would make it good to go on. All the candidates have their important policies they want to push, and the others have all decided to do that from inside the Biden general campaign. Biden has shown himself to be quite open to taking on the positions of others and giving credit.

the social media from BS' supporters would be in unison "time for Biden to drop out."

I have not read nor heard VP Biden's campaign saying this about Sanders.

There's a reason Biden's campaign isn't saying what "drop out, Bernie!" people around here are saying.

I don't know what it is, but they do.

I'm going with what Biden and his campaign say, and so far they're not discouraging Bernie.

Did you have a similar problem with that? Or does your logic only apply to Sanders?

Sanders supporters complained vehemently when Pete and Amy dropped out and backed Biden, some going as far as claiming that it was a conspiracy. Shouldn't they be allowed to do whatever they want?

"Allowed"?? Take that up with Tom Perez. Yes, his supporters have been "allowed" to pretty much go on and on as others here do.

Assertions like this about silly conspiracy theories are why it's impossible for some of us to take some Sanders supporters seriously.

The funny part is that you guys don't even realize how ridiculous the assertions sound.

for Warren to drop out? In fact, I recall one of Sanders' staffers saying that everyone should drop out (after NH, I believe) and leave the nomination to Bernie. Was that OK?

Not OK for anyone else.

dollar on the primary...it is over now get behind Biden and let's send Trump packing in November.

Given that's what they did to Warren.

time to defeat the worst President in our history who will likely kill millions in this country with Corona and his complete incompetence. Sanders has lost the primary. He is needed in the Senate. He needs to concede and help Biden unify the party for the good of the country...it hurts when your candidate loses...we have seven months now to work on unification...so concede Sen. Sanders now. And a primary is not an election. It exists to choose a candidate to run in the election...the purpose has been served so let it go.

the country and concede and endorse enthusiastically.

g that feedback as people fuss here.

Right now, he's focusing on the H.R. 6201: "Families First CoronaVirus Response Act" PASSED LAST SATURDAY, which McConnell and Trump are stalling on.

a primary if he doesn't do the right thing. Trump must go.

We just want Bernie to stop his scorched earth strategy. Exactly what purpose is served by continuing to attack Biden? If Bernie's plans were so popular, and he has so much support behind him, then why isn't he running on that? But all I see from his campaign is non stop attacks against Biden and the Democratic Party.

The question is not whether the primaries should be held. Presidential preference is merely one line on a ballot determining candidates for other Federal offices, and for state and local offices.

The question is whether Sanders ought to continue to contest the Presidential preference line. Particularly since he is certain to fail of success in doing so, at least if success is defined as securing the nomination of the Party. If Sanders defines success as something other than securing the nomination, then his continued efforts to contest the Presidential line must do harm to the prospects of the candidate now certain to secure the Party's nomination for President. That Sanders knows this is certain: he may display many of the stigmata of an idiot, but he is not a fool. Onlookers have little choice, therefore, but to cast about for his motives in continuing the contest. None of the more likely ones are very pretty, some are actively pernicious.

"May display"? "Stigmata"? "idiot"? "pernicious"? are all interpretations of your fellow Democrats.

There is no reason to think that contesting the presidential line will do harm.

You're the one with the dark outlook here. Not Bernie. If you're among those who "cast about for his motives in continuing," he says he's assessing. Nothing wrong with that.

Sanders can only continue to contest by attacking Mr. Biden, by attempting to weaken him. His continued attacks will, in the general election campaign, lend a 'bipartisan' cover to attacks by Republicans. This will mute the effectiveness of our appeal in the general election to elements of the electorate repelled by Trump, but still not wholly detached from the Republican Party. These voters are why the Democratic party today holds the House, and several useful governorships, as well as a plethora of other state offices.

"This pretense of not knowing what any fool knows has come to define too much of our public discourse."

nominee beaten up on the right and the left. If Sanders stays in, he helps Trump period.

I'd imagine the corollary is also true, we shouldn't pressure Bernie to stay in, either. It's "His decision" and all the other excuses, yes?

If one of the above is valid and true, they then both are. If however, one of the above is full of steaming crap, they then both are.

If we pretend only one is valid and the other not, we're simply holding others to standards we don't hold ourselves to.

Though we may pretend otherwise if it's comforting, yet six of one really is half a dozen of the other.

We should have over 20 people still in the race. The people have made their choice clear. It's time for us to coalesce around our chosen candidate. It's time to unite. Therefore, this black poster disagrees with your "millennial black friend"
Also, this FL voter had no problem with Sanders exiting before the Florida primary.
In fact, his surrogates are the ones now complaining about elections being held amid the health crisis. Then why selfishly prolong the inevitable? Since it is becoming even more clear that he has slim to no path of being our nominee. He should drop out, so we can focus on containment of this virus and the general election.

...and Biden has won 19. He's forecast to win big in all the remaining 27 votes.

What is this so-called "undemocratic hack" of which that Facebook person speaks?

I understand the spirit of what he means about the process, though.

Bernie is losing...badly. So you're saying he should stay in just to continue that losing streak because of "ideas"?? Bernie is no better or different than any other candidate on those debate stages who, when faced with the fact that their candidacy is no longer viable, dropped out. His ideas are NOT BRINGING IN VOTERS. Just because there is this idea that somehow he is carrying a "movement", doesn't mean that he is better or carries any more weight than any of the other candidate who also thought their ideas were important and worthy of being heard. The primary process has never been about having every state vote before a candidate drops out. Sanders' campaign is no longer viable. I get that this is hard to accept if you support Sanders, but there is not possible way for him to make up the ground to secure the nomination. This is the same crap that the Sanders camp spewed in '16, I know because I was in that camp!! Why belabor this and give false hope to people and continue to spread resentment and division?

If Bernie wants to fold up and hand it over, its up to him and should be a logical conclusion.
I Would like for him to give it up, though.

We are in emergency mode at this hour.

mode, fine.

But so far, party leaders have said nothing at this hour.

will hurt us...I have a question for you. How much do you want to beat Trump? If Sanders stays in, Trump may very well win.

If you doubt the voter count so much so far that you think Trump "may very well win," you show little faith in either the party process or the American voter, seems to me.

In case you haven't noticed, in the midst of a pandemic endangering their lives, voters got out and voted for Biden to beat Trump. You can bet that Trump's suffering voters aren't going to make that same effort.

I want to beat Trump so much that I've donated near $1,000 so far to my primary candidates. And will be a full donor to Biden in the General.

Is any of this good enough to help restore your faith?

As for winning the general...if the primary is not called and Sanders does not concede and endorse enthusiastically, we might lose to Trump and that is a fact. Having your candidate vilified on the right and the left ...cause election losses...Gore, Kerry, Clinton...are all examples. Sanders needs to go...and to say that he won't hurt our nominee with the scorched earth shit from his campaign is untrue.

It is up to the individuals.
If you sit around and wait for someone to tell you this is emergency mode
You are waiting perhaps too long.

Everyone has the right to do what they want.
I can only hope they will do what is in the best interests for integral survival.

y.

That's just gratuitous snark.

The ones still posting are generally pretty clear about whom they support. Plus, Biden supporters also tend to be pretty open about it, in my experience.

The ones who are clearly Sanders supporters with a Biden avatar are more obnoxious than "undecideds", in my opinion.

The Party has chosen. There is nothing left to decide.

If you can't even argue that Bernie still has a chance at the nomination, then your argument should be over.

This is not just an exercise to make everyone feel good. It is a process with a purpose. That purpose is complete.

"That purpose" is not ours to decide until the convention. Re-read the OP.

right thing or hang on and sow division...time will tell.

There comes a point when the path to victory just isn't there anymore, either because there won't be enough delegates to win or the polling in the remaining states leave no doubt. At that point, while you don't have to drop out, at the very least you should try not to further damage your primary opponent and you shouldn't build further resentment against the party you are a supposed member of. If BS is realistic and if he's honest about his intentions to beat Trump, he should act accordingly. You can fight for your issues without going negative. I think there would be less calls for him to drop out if the consequences of his actions weren't so negative.

And Bernie certainly has the right to go out on his terms. And as far as I can tell, there's no correlation between an early end to primaries and a victory in the general election--the opposite may be true, actually. The 2008 primaries went until the very end, and it helped set up the network for a landslide in the fall.

However, if there is no path for Bernie, it's unfair to ask people to give their money and time for a hopeless cause. It is, by and large, a waste of time when those resources can be used toward the fall, not only in the presidential race but in the downballot races. That is an area Bernie can do a lot of good. If we want a movement, we're going to have to succeed from the local level to the White House, and that effort has to start now.

The press for "now" belongs more in our approach to a massive die-off than to the rest of a primary.

That's the "now" we should be worried about. Because. There is no way we need worry about this country voting for more of the same.

Bernie could work toward that. I remember something about Al Franken saying to Bernie he agreed, but they needed 58 more votes.

Al Franken has said that he believes in single-payer but that the realities of American politics mean a creative compromise.

As I understand it, shortly after he got to the Senate, he told Bernie that he would support single-payer but that they would be 55 votes short and would "need to come up with a backup plan."

God, I miss him.

a primary should he run for his Senate seat in 2024. This is a big deal. We have to beat Trump.

But I don't what you have to disagree with about the general notion that shorter primaries are, in and of themselves, not necessarily prerequisite for success in the fall, which is all I'm saying.

Al Gore knocked out Bill Bradley early, John Kerry basically had it wrapped up by March, etc. Many candidates go through long primaries, and their presence in several states, creating campaign infrastructure, and getting tested ideologically and personally through the primary process can make one sharper for the general election.

Biden has passed the test and knocked out Sanders relatively quickly. My point is beware of extrapolating too much from that as it relates to what the general election will look like.

Where ALL of us collectively give the nod to one or other candidates.

We are not electing a president of NY or NJ or Kansas. Those people's votes are meaningless now because the majority of Americans have already elected a nominee.

a general election.

The fact is, it is over. And to waste time and resources contesting a primary when it is over is goddammed foolishness.

And we're quite used to being irrelevant in May. We won't mind it this year. My state would just pile on for Biden anyway.

I'm pretty sure most Democrats in this state would gladly forgo all the ads and door knocks to focus on the general.

If so she got her chance to vote for Sanders.

p.s. voting on FB doesn't count.

a winnowing down of possibilities to the victor. At some point voting becomes awash. They will vote but it needs to be done before the convention.

statements about their "intent" or their supporters' "bad faith" behavior as if their own candidate, Biden, is Hillary. As if he's in danger. As if the party is split. As if this will be a replay of 2016. He's not, and it's not, and it won't.

The healthiest thing is to let their opposing primary candidate speak for himself, let him and remaining voters make their choices.

All it does is help Trump, one can’t help but question his motives.

His campaign has no more relevance than Tulsi’s at this point.

We shouldn’t pretend that it is anything else because of threatened temper tantrums.

Unnecessary primaries with crowds of people for no real reason seems counter productive and medically dumb.

If Party continues primary, it’s up to individuals as to going to vote. Making extended primaries useless as far as a real vote with true results.

If Bernie out. Everyone stays healthier.

No two off. The quote you posted and you. This Wisconsin voter is fine with the primary ending

The expense could be better spent elsewhere. The medical possibilities also make ending primaries this round even more important.

There is a true and loyal Democrat, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. On the ballot and Maybe (Maybe he's out, Maybe not) an Independent Senator from Vermont. So please vote. The choice is clear.

has never stopped campaigning and we are not responding because we are still locked in a primary when there is no mathematical possibility for one candidate.

And that fact tends to increase the fret.

Yet, vote away! It is all over anyway.

Acknowledging reality, Joe Biden should simply move on to the general, while treating Bernie Sanders with respect ✊.

So he should feel better now.