Thread by @JillPiggott

In EVERY state, #Sanders has done less well in 2020 than he did in 2016, underperforming by an average 17.6%.

In Vermont, for example, he won only 50.7% of the vote in '20, a drop of 35.4% from his '16 win. / thread

#Sanders' underperformance is partly explained by his failure to get new & young voters to the polls. In nearly every primary thru early March, fewer of those voters turned out than they did in '16.
brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/20…

.@CNN exit polls show nearly 3% fewer voters under 30 voted in '20 than they did in '16. #Bernie Sanders needed to overperform with this demographic.

#Bernie did 23.5% worse in Iowa in '20 than in '16 & 34.8% worse in NH compared to '16. He ran 19.4% behind his own '16 SuperTuesday performance, and in the 9 primaries since #Warren dropped out, #Sanders underperformed his 2016 vote totals by 16.0%,

"In every one of the 27 primaries and caucuses thus far, Mr. #Sanders underperformed his 2016 level of support. That ranges from the narrowest margin of 0.4% in Nevada to the largest margin in Utah where his support dropped from 79.3% in 2016 to 34.8% in 2020." @BrookingsGov

.@JohnJHudak argues Sanders’s level of support was "artificially inflated" in '16 since voters seeking an HRC alternative had only 1 choice. "The #Sanders campaign believed that cushion of support from 2016 would be sufficient to propel him to the nomination."

"These errors closed off the true path to the nomination: broadening the reach of his message, reaching out to anti-Clinton voters who may not have been true supporters, & building a diverse coalition within the Democratic Party." @JohnJHudak @BrookingsGov

Hudak's analysis matches that of @nytimes Burns & Martin who interviewed +3 dozen #Sanders staffers, advisers, officials. They also point to #Bernie's failure to expand his base, unify #dems, & manage arguments in an "ungainly operation that fragmented into factions" (NYT 3/21).

In his 3/17 VT speech conceding the delegate race to #Biden, #Sanders made no charges of rigged elections or #DNC bias. He said voters told him repeatedly that tho they agreed w/ him on issues, they thought Biden had a better chance of beating Trump. c-span.org/video/?470263-…

"How it All Came Apart for @BernieSanders" NY Times 3/21 threadreaderapp.com/thread/1241412…

@threadreaderapp #unroll