The campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., along with his strategist, see the writing on the wall and are urging the Democratic socialist to drop out of the race, two sources told The Washington Post.
Vice President Joe Biden holds a lead many consider insurmountable in the Democratic presidential primary delegate count 1,217-914, needing just 774 delegates to clinch the nomination.
With primaries having been delayed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the race resumes Tuesday in Wisconsin, a state Biden is expected to run away with.
Sen. Sanders, more open to withdrawing, might do so after Wisconsin if he were to lose by 15 points or more, according to Post sources. Biden is leading Wisconsin polling by an average of 18.3 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
Sanders has said he is aware of a very "narrow path" to victory and he needs to take a "hard look" at his future, per the Post.
Campaign manager Faiz Shakir, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and longtime strategist Jeff Weaver are among the closest advisers to Sanders, urging him to withdraw.
Biden has spoken with Sanders, he told campaign donors recently.
"He's a friend; I don't want him to think I’m being presumptuous, but you have to start now deciding who you're going to have background checks done on as potential vice presidential candidates, and it takes time," Biden said, per the Post.
Still, there are some loyalsts, if not dreamers, wanting Sanders to stay in the race through the Democratic National Convention, including Larry Cohen. The convention is moving back to Aug. 17.
"Millions of people are counting on him to be on the ballot so they can vote for that alternative vision that they support," Cohen said, per the Post. "And if he was not on the ballot, they will feel abandoned."
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