Despite building a huge political cachet in 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is going to find it harder to keep what was once a thriving base on board for a potential 2020 presidential campaign, according to The New York Times.
"Insurgent candidates never come back and become the establishment favorite," a political strategist for Sanders, Mark Longabaugh, told the Times.
For all of the buzz and excitement Sanders created in falling to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, even those who backed him are questioning whether he is the right candidate for the party this next go around, the Times reported.
"It's not a given that I'm going to support Bernie just because I did before," former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores told the Times. "There are going to be plenty of people to look at and to listen to. I'm currently open at this point, and I think the majority of people are."
Sanders might be too far left. He is not even a Democrat.
"It's not 2016 anymore — the considerations may need to be more pragmatic than ideological," a New Hampshire immigration lawyer and "huge fan of Bernie's," Ron Abramson told the Times.
". . . There are just too many Democrats who don't forgive him for not being a Democrat. I don't want to go through the same type of divisiveness again that we saw."
And, according to the polls, Sanders is not the favorite among the people – as some see former Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, and billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as having better chances of unseating President Donald Trump.
"I think one has to wait and see who's got the best chance mathematically," Sanders' first 2016 backer, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., told the Times, adding, "the insurgency is broader."
Sanders is also 77.
"Ironically, Bernie's agenda for working families will be the Democratic Party's message in 2020, but he may not be the one leading the parade," progressive talk show host Bill Press told the Times.
". . . What I hear from a lot of friends is that a younger Bernie is what we need."
Both Sanders' former press secretary Symone Sanders (no relation) – "There are a lot of good candidates this time," she told the Times. "I'm going to wait and see" – and foreign policy adviser Joseph Cirincione might not be on board for another Sanders run.
"I don't know – I honestly don't know," Cirincione told the Times. "I would certainly continue to advise him. Would I support him? I think a lot of us want to see how this develops.
"I think he should do it – he's an important voice. But does he prevail? Would he be the strongest candidate? We don't know yet."
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