Can't blame Bernie. He is doing what he does best. [View all]

[beastie boy]

He is leveraging what little influence he has left to its maximum, while he still can.

Bernie is smart enough to know that his "the people" vs "establishment" narrative has fizzled. The Primary results are clear on this. He is now falling back on the "we won on ideological grounds" narrative, which is also unfounded, but this is not yet as obvious as the failure of his populist message. This will become obvious in time, but not yet. Bernie still has space to maneuver, but it is shrinking, and fast. The next debate gives Bernie the opportunity, possibly his last one, to solidify the grounds for demanding and getting concessions from the Democratic Party to include items from his agenda in its platform. This is why he is pushing so hard right now. This will surely change, commensurate with Bernie's ability to retain relevance in this race.

He is unlikely to succeed to the degree he did in 2016. In fact, he is unlikely to retain sufficient relevance to last him until the convention. My sense is, the sooner he makes an endorsement deal with Biden, the better off Bernie's position will be in the end. My guess is, Bernie will endorse Joe by April. Possibly a day or two after Warren's endorsement, but that's a whole different calculus.