According to the article, the (not mutually incompatible) reasons are: 1. Sanders didn’t run a smart enough campaign 2. Democrats were wary of a very liberal

According to the article, the (not mutually incompatible) reasons are: 1. Sanders didn’t run a smart enough campaign 2. Democrats were wary of a very liberal nominee 3. Trump aside, Sanders was always a weird fit as the Democratic nominee There's another possibility. Democratic primary voters are actually participating in a Keynesian Beauty Contest: > ... entrants are asked to choose the six most attractive faces from a hundred photographs. Those who picked the most popular faces are then eligible for a prize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_beauty_contest The president has broadly and deeply invaded the psyche of democrats. Instead of choosing the candidate they want, party members are choosing the candidate they think everyone else, even those outside the party, wants. It's similar to the calculation made during 2016. But this time around, there have been 3+ years of unrelenting psyche assault. Speaking at the level of gut voter reaction and leaving policies aside, the two probable candidates in the probable 2020 presidential election are by a long shot more similar than any other possible matchup.