You can forget about Bernie running for President in 2020

[Jim Lane]

167. I have a question about "The party is not going to allow" it.

There seems to be this belief among some DUers that, in 2015, the DNC held a meeting and magnanimously voted to allow Bernie to run for the Democratic nomination. The corollary is the prediction and/or hope that, in 2019, the DNC will instead vote to bar him, and he will therefore be excluded.

Back here in the real world, there was no such DNC vote. There didn't need to be and, in fact, couldn't be. Qualification for the Democratic primary ballot in each state is determined by the election authorities in that state, pursuant to state law.

Of course, if Bernie is on the ballot (through petition signatures or whatever that state requires) and wins the primary, the DNC could refuse to seat that state's duly elected delegates. At least, my guess is that it would be in the DNC's legal power to do so. The PR hit from such an anti-democratic action would be enormous. In 2016, more than three-quarters of Bernie's supporters voted for the Democratic nominee in the general election, but DNC high-handedness in 2020 could eviscerate that support.

So what course, specifically, are you expecting the party to take?