Sanders and his supporters shouldn’t think that he’ll win. Several Democrats ran for president, lost, and ran, later, thinking that their first campaign would help their later campaign. However, all of those people lost the second race. That happened to George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Jerry Brown, Gary Hart, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton. Since all of them lost, Sanders should know his campaign probably won’t be better than his 2016 campaign. I hope his goal is to be VP or a cabinet member.
Why would Sanders want to be VP or some useless Cabinet flunky, either of which would force him to do the bidding of the President and not himself ? Unless you’re being made Sec of State or Attorney General, I wouldn’t give up a Senate seat for the other positions.
He does have a shot at the nomination, he just has to wait for Bite Me to die by a thousand cuts. If Sanders gets a plurality but not a majority and gets pushed aside at the convention, he could very well walk out and do that 3rd party thing. I mean, let’s remember, he’s not officially a Demonrat anyway. I’ve been surprised the Dems have let him participate in their primaries when he refuses their label.
Yeah, but as I’ve pointed out for a year, Sanders has three really big advantages:
1) $$. He can raise more than almost anyone.
2) An organization in place for the primaries from 2016.
3) A core of true believers that will put him at #2 in almost every race. This was KEY in Trump winning-—he always came in #2 when he didn’t win TX or MN or wherever. That gets you a constant buildup of delegates, whereas Biteme/Warren and maybe even Buttplugs will split the #2s in many states.
Trust me, if Sanders wins IA and NH and comes in #2 in SC, he’ll win NV, then the race is his to lose. Right now he’s #3 in SC, which is one of his worst states.
Sanders is not an attractive VP choice for any candidate. No one wants a 102 year old VP.
He has a high floor of support, and a strong chance to win the nomination, history aside. And of course Humphrey, Gore, and Clinton all won the nomination, which is what we are talking about.