Human Nature

[Belacqua]

Bernie would have won, probably, but the Dems wouldn't let him get near the nomination. 

"The Dems wouldn't let him" is a funny line, since Sanders wasn't even a Democrat.

This discussion is really more about human psychology than politics per se, though of course they are mixed together.

So for instance, your line above shows your incomprehension of a group of people who think differently than you do, i.e. Democrats.

Sanders ran as a Democrat in 2016 and 2020. He won 23 primaries and caucuses, including New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Oregon, among others. In 2020, he won at least 9 primaries and caucuses, including New Hampshire, Nevada, Vermont, and California.

In 2020, running as a Democrat, Sanders was the front runner after strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, and then a decisive win in Nevada. Despite being the most popular candidate, Democratic Superdelegates opposed him. When Biden did well in South Carolina (a more conservative state), three moderate candidates suddenly dropped out and endorsed him -- ensuring that there would be party unity against the "radical" Sanders. Several Democrats at the time acknowledged that Biden was selected by the Dem party as the one to block Sanders. 

https://www.vox.com/2016/5/17/11680904/b...convention

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/07...ces-519919

All these moves were legal by party rules, and not particularly unusual when the powerful people have a preferred candidate. No one can know counter-factual history, but Sanders was doing very well, he was also polling well among people who wanted a not-business-as-usual candidate -- that is, many people who ended up voting for Trump said they would have voted for Sanders if he'd been available. Nor can we know exactly what the insider conversations were. 

There is strong evidence that the candidate preferred by the majority of Democrats in the primary election didn't get the nomination because more conservative Democrat officials didn't like him.