The rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) in a substantial number of national polls has set off alarms within the Democratic establishment. It is no secret that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and allies do not want Sen. Sanders to clinch the party’s nomination for president; we saw this in 2016. FiveThirtyEight currently predicts that Sen. Sanders will have a substantial lead in delegates by Super Tuesday:
Average projected delegates through Super Tuesday:
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 18, 2020
Sanders 608 (41% of delegates thru March 3)
Bloomberg 273 (18%)
Biden 270 (18%)
Buttigieg 157 (10%)
Warren 127 (8%)
Klobuchar 55 (4%)https://t.co/JDz2dZ8bqR
If this happens, Sanders would have a pledged delegate lead he’ll never relinquish. https://t.co/MhhoJMlUgn
— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) February 19, 2020
Former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg (D-NY), who made a late entry into the primary, recognizes the legitimacy of Sen. Sanders’ candidacy. Bloomberg’s top strategist insinuated that other candidates should suspend their campaigns in order to unite against Sen. Sanders:
Kevin Sheekey, Mike Bloomberg's top strategist, said: "The fact is if the state of this race remains status quo — with Biden, Pete and Amy in the race on Super Tuesday — Bernie is likely to open up a delegate lead that seems nearly impossible to overcome." https://t.co/TTs5GBBVUT
— Axios (@axios) February 19, 2020
This blatant effort by the Democratic establishment to undermine Sen. Sanders' candidacy is a repeat of 2016, and does not project unity within the Democratic Party in an election year.