Sanders tanked Clinton.

[karynnj]

105. You are assuming a coronation would have led to a victory over Trump

This contrasts to the entire narrative of 2008, where the many debates with Clinton and others caused Obama to improve as a candidate. I also remember that the coverage of Clinton's book tour - which was pretty mixed - was excused because she was "rusty" in dealing the media having been in a different role as SoS.

It also assumes as fact, Clinton's contention that Sanders created the narrative that led to Trump's "crooked Hillary". In fact, that is really the same playbook that would have been used in 2008 had she been the nominee. Much of it goes back to the 1990s. Not to mention, it conflates two things that are NOT the same.

What Sanders spoke of were economic policies where he was a democratic socialist - something she wasn't. The Clintons were among the first DLC Democrats. They rejected the union driven economic positions of the Democratic party for a more business friendly position while retaining socially liberal values. Income inequality increased consistently over the Clinton years, but was seen differently by them. The Clintons (and many Democrats) noted that income increased for all income groups. Sanders was more likely to see that the top groups gained the most, even in percent gain. His language was language he long used on income inequality. I would have expected the Clinton response would have been to argue that Sanders was far out of the mainstream. Rather than attack him as a Democratic Socialist, she turned this into Sanders accusing her of quid pro quo - which he didn't.

Sanders avoided - for the most part - any attack on her email issue.

Trump, on the other hand, attacked her on the full array of 1990s accusations, the email, Benghazi, her stamina, her health, AND that she was dishonest -- even as he was polled as being seen as dishonet by more people. (Not to mention, a better way to test this might have been to ask who was more dishonest -- a contest he would have won hands down.)

Consider that it is easy to frame Al Gore as "exaggerating" even as his reputation until then was that he was an eagle scout. Trump framed EVERY Republican in one way or another. His choice for Clinton was easy and did not come from Sanders.