For people calling Hillary a "weak" candidate...

[Agnosticsherbet]

86. When the Post Mortem of Primary 2016 is written, it will likely be noted that no event

ever put Clinton's nomination in doubt. She took a commanding lead in South Carolina, and never lost that lead.

Sanders ran a race fueled by populist anger at the mainstream establishment, an anger that affected both sides of the election, with amazing success. His failure to connect with several of the core constituencies kept him from overcoming Clinton's delegate lead. Clinton's link to those constituencies developed over decades proved an insurmountable obstacle.

Had Democrats had fifteen candidates instead of the original five (with most of them refusing to withdraw), echoing the Republicans huge field of candidates, I think Sanders would have won a plurality that would have taken him unscathed to the General Election.

If those five candidates had the funds to run well into the South, it may have made a difference. Democratic Candidates, except for Clinton and Sanders, did not have the funding. The ability of Republican Candidates to tap into funding streams to fuel the #stoptrump movement may be an indicator of how money can affect the race, keeping unviable candidates in contention long after they would have dropped out with their campaign chests deep in debt forcing them to make a deal with the winner to pay off debts for their support.

In the end, Clintons long ties with core Democratic constituencies made her the strongest candidate in the Democratic Party. In a one on one race, those links made the difference.