In the final analysis, "Biden surged" will rightly prevail over "Sanders made mistakes" in evaluating what happened in this primary. But there were a few Sanders campaign missteps at crucial moments that are worth thinking about, even if they might not have changed the outcome
One is that Sanders allowed himself to get outspent in South Carolina, despite superior resources. I can imagine the case--including the clever case that allow a failed-Biden win might have split the field further. But clearly there was limited recognition of the downside risk
Would it have helped? I don't really think so? It certainly didn't help Buttigieg, who really did spend there. But I do think it is at least possible where there was a moment when Sanders had an opening there after NV, and they did not move to exploit it
Second is that Sanders got bogged down talking about Castro during the post-NV period. For your average 50 year old, electability minded, suburban woman, it's everything that makes them uncomfortable with his candidacy. It was not the general election preview he needed
Third, and perhaps most important is that Sanders made limited effort, throughout the campaign and particularly post-NH, to reach out to the... establishment, broadly defined.
He did not need to become the establishment favorite. He did need to try and at least make them feel somewhat comfortable. And personal relationships matter: if Sanders had spent 4 years shmoozing Clyburn after SC, are you certain he would have endorsed Biden in a tight race?
I've seen plenty of Berners upset at Warren for not endorsing Sanders, and I get it. But it's really a pretty damning indictment of his candidacy that he can't even build a coalition with people who agree with them on most of the issues.
And it is worth thinking about the term coalition, which doesn't usually mean "people who support you" but usually means people with disparate interests who come together in pursuit of shared ones, often with compromises. By that standard, did Team Sanders make an effort here?
Anyway, I think that if the progressive left is open the idea that their defeat was about more than the establishment being against them, and also in part because of correctable failings of their candidate and campaign, they might find there are ways forward in the future
