To add on, Bernie did not build a groundbase of leftist or progressive support within the local parties, as in getting loyal members to join and take control of the democratic parties of each state or district. (If you're going to play the electoral game you have to actually play it)
That left him at the whims of machine politics, which he seemed to think he could overcome with sheer number of votes. But voter suppression turned out to be the main tool of Democrat machine politics, which basically denied him any chance of breaking through.
That and the ultimate machine politic, the will of the former president, basically nuked his chances on super Tuesday. The day before Super Tuesday (March 2nd) Obama called the centrist democratic candidates (Pete, Klob) and pushed them to drop out and support Biden. This made Biden seem like the inevitable candidate and severely weakened Bernie's already vulnerable razor-thin majority that he had over each individual candidate. (Remember when corp news kept saying "Bernie actually loses against all of the votes for the other candidates combined"? That literally became the reality when Obama made his calls.
Bernie should have tried actually organizing his people not just for his campaign but within the parties to solidify his base and make it less vulnerable between 2016 and 2020.
To add on, Bernie did not build a groundbase of leftist or progressive support within the local parties, as in getting loyal members to join and take control of the democratic parties of each state or district. (If you're going to play the electoral game you have to actually play it)
That left him at the whims of machine politics, which he seemed to think he could overcome with sheer number of votes. But voter suppression turned out to be the main tool of Democrat machine politics, which basically denied him any chance of breaking through.
That and the ultimate machine politic, the will of the former president, basically nuked his chances on super Tuesday. The day before Super Tuesday (March 2nd) Obama called the centrist democratic candidates (Pete, Klob) and pushed them to drop out and support Biden. This made Biden seem like the inevitable candidate and severely weakened Bernie's already vulnerable razor-thin majority that he had over each individual candidate. (Remember when corp news kept saying "Bernie actually loses against all of the votes for the other candidates combined"? That literally became the reality when Obama made his calls.
Bernie should have tried actually organizing his people not just for his campaign but within the parties to solidify his base and make it less vulnerable between 2016 and 2020.