Now, the question on a lot of people’s minds I’m sure is why did this happen?
It's only a shock to people who didn't
want to believe it. The race was never even close. Bernie had 15-25% of the vote at any given time in a field heavily split by "moderate" (lol aka anyone who's name doesn't start with B and end with Ernie) candidates.
He lost Iowa to a random gay mayor, massively underperformed NH compared to Amy & Pete, and got swept in SC. The trends were there for anyone who cared to see them. I tried to tell ya. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Is the Democratic base not as progressive as us Bernie people thought?
Absolutely not. Polls and results showed that ages ago.
Was the problem Bernie himself?
Yes. Warren could've won if he didn't shove her out of the way. Bernie is a fundamentally unserious candidate, but progressivism itself is a viable platform.
Is it true that “Nobody likes him”?
Considering nearly every political figure in the country who endorsed someone chose his opponent, yup! His co-workers have been publicly calling him an ineffective asshole for the past few decades, so it's no surprise. Not to mention his poor
voter turnout and results.
Absolutely. Who would've thought that smearing and berating every other candidate would alienate people? Who would've thought, "You're literally a murderer for not supporting Bernie!" would be a turn off?
He didn't have enough votes in 2016, and he's made no effort to build coalitions since then (rather, the opposite is true). His strategy was to skate through a crowded field with 25% of the vote then throw a tantrum at the convention. He simply couldn't fathom the idea that candidates would drop out once it became clear they wouldn't win (as he should've done in 2016).
The fact that candidates this time around bothered to call him out on his absurd promises and blatant lack of plans certainly didn't help his case. And they didn't even start doing that until Biden slipped ~the Iowa caucus, because they knew that even sneezing in Bernie's direction would end with thousands of kids on the internet sending death threats to their families. They (Kamala, Liz, Pete) probably thought they could take some of his supporters too. Hah.
Maybe he should have gone harder on Biden?
Everyone who went after Biden ended up underwater, Bernie included. The most disproportionately successful candidates in the race (Pete, Biden) ran the cleanest campaigns. We already have a petty asshole in the white house.
Was he just perceived as being unelectable in an election where most people just wanted to beat Trump?
That was absolutely not the only reason, but yup. And even if he won the presidency, he would've lost Congress in a landslide. Hence why Biden got early endorsements from a large number of purple/red district Reps.
Did Warren staying in on Super Tuesday and splitting the vote with him halt any momentum he had by making him lose started he otherwise would have won?
No.
First of all, only half of Warren's supporters went to Bernie.
Secondly, Bloomberg, Pete, and Amy got
way more super Tuesday votes than Liz. Bernie would've lost even harder had the field thinned sooner.
Absolutely not. Even Pelosi caved and said she'd be comfortable with Bernie at the top of the ticket when he was at this peak. He had every advantage in the world, but his strategy, staff, personality, record, and relationships were way under par.
Would any anti-establishment candidate be doomed to lose because the establishment is too powerful?
The "establishment" (whatever that means) let Bernie practically rewrite the primary rules to his benefit. He still lost in a landslide. It's silly to blame the establishment for a
landslide defeat. This would be valid food for thought if it were a much closer race.
The Dem establishment is the most overrated villain in history. Even more underwhelming than the dude from CA: Civil War.
I feel like it was probably not one thing but a combination of things. What those things are, I don’t know.
Nah, you were pretty spot on in listing them.
