# What's Bernie's remaining realistic path to the nomination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 5, 2020, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949 "2020-03-05T05:16:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/321 "2020-03-25T00:56:29Z")
As much reality as anything else delusional Bernie supporters ever say. It’s true that Biden has been out of the picture–#WheresJoe was trending on Twitter after he didn’t make an appearance for a solid week–and of course the Bernie crowd thinks center-left proposals like Biden’s are weak tea. What’s so new or shocking about this? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/322 "2020-03-25T01:00:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Are you kidding? “With Biden out of the picture” and “Hopefully Biden drops out of the race now his policies have been laid bare as feeble” sound like reality based jump offs for discussion? It is against the rules to accuse a poster of doing what that poster did. We are only supposed to report. And I have. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/323 "2020-03-25T01:02:16Z")
If they buy it that completely, it’s too delusional for me. Not sure all who spout it all honestly buy it. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/324 "2020-03-25T01:18:17Z")
I’m surprised that people are still not quite clear on how distorted the worldview of many Bernie supporters is. (Sincerely, earnestly, distorted in most cases IMO.) It’s been five years now, I’m used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/325 "2020-03-25T06:34:11Z")
Bernie is going to stay in the race until the New York primary on April 28. > **[Bernie Sanders will stay in 2020 race until New York primary](https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/bernie-sanders-will-stay-in-2020-race-until-new-york-primary/?utm_source=reddit.com)** > > WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders’ sputtering campaign will participate in the New York primary on April 28, despite no clear path to the nomination and growing calls for him to swiftly exit the ra… (Yes, the NY Post isn’t the best of sources, but the data appears valid.) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/326 "2020-03-25T07:18:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Bernie is going to stay in the race until the New York primary on April 28. > > [Bernie Sanders will stay in 2020 race until New York primary](https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/bernie-sanders-will-stay-in-2020-race-until-new-york-primary/?utm_source=reddit.com) > > (Yes, the NY Post isn’t the best of sources, but the data appears valid.) Let’s see if the next debate takes place. I highly doubt it will. The Bros will scream rigged, but we’ve already heard that a million times. Outside of social media, Bernie isn’t in the picture. Whenever primaries resume, Biden will destroy Bernie. Biden should do like Bill Clinton did with Jerry Brown in 1992, just ignore the gadfly. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/327 "2020-03-25T10:40:39Z")
One of the Bernouts in my Facebook feed keeps muttering darkly about “exit polls” and fomenting conspiracy theories that the primaries have been “rigged.” What is the straight dope that could be offered to refute that? My guess is that Bernouts have been selectively selecting “exit poll” numbers to gin up a conspiracy versus the actual vote totals. I’d ask what they even expect to accomplish by this, but as seen even here, some are still kidding themselves that Bernie still has any path to the nomination at all, and somehow hope that they can demolish Biden with their dark mutterings. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/328 "2020-03-25T11:31:05Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > One of the Bernouts in my Facebook feed keeps muttering darkly about “exit polls” and fomenting conspiracy theories that the primaries have been “rigged.” What is the straight dope that could be offered to refute that? My guess is that Bernouts have been selectively selecting “exit poll” numbers to gin up a conspiracy versus the actual vote totals. I’d ask what they even expect to accomplish by this, but as seen even here, some are still kidding themselves that Bernie still has any path to the nomination at all, and somehow hope that they can demolish Biden with their dark mutterings. There’s been some Bernieland reports that exit polls were stronger for Bernie thus the DNC or the establishment must have rigged the votes to screw Bernie. I haven’t looked at how they gather the data these days or how they normalise the results. I think it’s safe to say that Bernie’s voters are very eager to tell the pollster who they voted for. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/329 "2020-03-25T18:31:16Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > One of the Bernouts in my Facebook feed keeps muttering darkly about “exit polls” and fomenting conspiracy theories that the primaries have been “rigged.” What is the straight dope that could be offered to refute that? My guess is that Bernouts have been selectively selecting “exit poll” numbers to gin up a conspiracy versus the actual vote totals. I’d ask what they even expect to accomplish by this, but as seen even here, some are still kidding themselves that Bernie still has any path to the nomination at all, and somehow hope that they can demolish Biden with their dark mutterings. The same argument was made in 2016. It comes from them not knowing how Exit Polls work (more accurately, their limitations; exit polls sample a small amount of voters and they are not purely randomized which means they are useful for some things - like demographics and the like - but not for predicting the actual outcomes.) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/330 "2020-03-25T21:44:53Z")
Biden says there have been enough debates [Biden: ‘I think we’ve had enough debates’ - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/joe-biden-debates-148620) ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/331 "2020-03-25T21:49:39Z")
Good for Joe. Time to wind this shit down. Let Bernie buy his own airtime. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/332 "2020-03-25T22:19:30Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Good for Joe. Time to wind this shit down. Let Bernie buy his own airtime. Exactly, the die hard Bernie folk aren’t getting on board anyway. Let them tweet their thumbs out. Let them troll. Share all the creepy Joe and dementia Joe memes and GIFs they want to. They’re REALLY LOUD, they’re REALLY ASSHOLISH. But, they’re a reminder that social media isn’t real life. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/333 "2020-03-25T23:28:11Z")
And they make it a lot harder for Team Trump to try to tag Biden as a radical socialist, as they probably would have done if Bernie weren’t running. Silver lining! > [@dalej42](#): > > Biden should do like Bill Clinton did with Jerry Brown in 1992, just ignore the gadfly. Wasn’t there at least one debate between just the two of them? I can picture them sitting at a desk (maybe on Meet the Press?) and Brown pushing that 800 number of his, the precursor of Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders raising so much money online. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/334 "2020-03-25T23:51:37Z")
Wikipedia says there were 1992 debates with just Brown and Clinton but they don’t list a source for that . ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/335 "2020-03-26T00:03:22Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Wikipedia says there were 1992 debates with just Brown and Clinton but they don’t list a source for that . Wow, that’s…a lot of debates :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/336 "2020-03-26T00:11:06Z")
Naturally, my copy of Revolt at the Ballot Box seems to be buried deep in my closet. I’ll see if I run across it while I’m doing some lockdown cleaning. They may have done some sort of joint appearance on Larry King or one of the Sunday shows. I do definitely remember that Clinton just decided to pivot to the general and take on Bush and leave Brown as an annoying puppy nipping at his ankles. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/337 "2020-03-26T07:01:42Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I do definitely remember that Clinton just decided to pivot to the general and take on Bush and leave Brown as an annoying puppy nipping at his ankles. There was this fellow named Perot scuttling about independently too. Amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/338 "2020-03-26T09:28:56Z")
Sanders can now use his success at scuttling Republicans attempts to deny money to the unemployed. Biden still seems dazed in interviews. Should Sanders pivot towards a battle against Bidens likely replacement? Clinton possibly? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/339 "2020-03-26T11:03:02Z")
Good idea. Bernie’s clear path now is to go hard after Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949/340 "2020-03-26T12:55:59Z")
Clinton? Really? Wow. That’s entirely divorced from reality. I knew there were parallels with conservatives, but this fixation with Hillary Clinton is supremely bizarre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-bernies-remaining-realistic-path-to-the-nomination/848949.md?page=18)