@maxdancona,
Well put.
What some people fail to see is that, if you're running as a Democrat — or a Republican — having solid support from your
party isn't enough to win an election. Because somewhere around 40% of voters are unenrolled and a good proportion of them are true independents (as opposed to people who usually vote for one party but can't be bothered to enroll). I don't know what Sanders's support from party members is currently but I'd guess around 20%. That's sizeable but not as much as Biden (!) has. Should Sanders win the nomination, what are the chances of his pulling in the Biden supporters and, even more importantly, how many of the independents? His stubborn, unrelenting advocacy of democratic socialism is both a positive and a negative. On the positive side, we know where he comes from, he calls it like he sees it, and his supporters are deeply committed. On the negative side, I don't see him having the ability to change the minds of people who are wary of leftist solutions, skeptical of government, and somewhat cautious about embracing wholesale changes to the system.
I don't think he will win the nomination either. But I'm not willing to say #NeverSanders. If he succeeds I'd probably vote for him anyway.