Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge said if the polls are right and Biden wins big in Michigan and elsewhere Tuesday, Sanders should consider dropping out.

“I think then Sen. Sanders is pragmatic enough to understand that there is no path,” Fudge said. “If in fact, he wants to let the people speak — the people have spoken. I would certainly hope that he would then do what is best for the party and what is best for the country. I would just believe that he is a strong enough politician to know when it is time to fold his hand.

“The problem is math,” she added. Then, speaking of the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination, she said, If you "can’t get to 1,991, you can’t win. It’s real simple.”

The Sanders campaign was uncharacteristically quiet Tuesday. After cancelling a rally in Ohio due to coronavirus concerns, Sanders flew back to Burlington, Vermont. A Sanders aide said he would not address supporters after Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi were called for Biden.

However, the aide said Sanders was still planning to debate Biden on Sunday, where his team has long believed he would thrive in a one-on-one match-up with the former vice president. Some left-wing allies are cheering him on, despite the disappointing results for Sanders.

"The progressive world wants a Bernie vs. Biden debate, as should all Democratic voters," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is closely aligned with Elizabeth Warren. "Not because it will likely change the outcome, but because in order to not change the outcome, Biden has to withstand one-on-one scrutiny similar to a debate with Trump — and he would likely need to cement some popular progressive positions that Bernie challenges him on. All of that makes us more likely to defeat Trump."

Sanders' loss in Michigan is particularly damaging to the Vermont senator's White House aspirations. Aside from the 125 delegates up for grabs, the state has significance to Sanders because of his triumph over Hillary Clinton four years ago and its importance as a general election battleground.

Sanders' shellacking in Mississippi underscored his failure to win over African Americans. Results were not yet available in Washington state, but even a close finish would undercut Sanders’ argument that he’s best positioned to counter Trump because his candidacy attracts new voters.

Alabama Sen. Doug Jones said if Tuesday's results are as bad for Sanders as the polls predict, then Sanders should seriously reassess — and quickly. "I hope that he will look at the big picture and coalesce and make the nominating process one that we can fully support," Jones said.

“Is Sen. Sanders really committed to the Democratic Party and the nominee, or is he committed to his movement and his own candidacy? That’s a question only Sen. Sanders can answer," Jones said. "He has said he is committed to the party, I think he’s going to have to demonstrate that."



One delegate expert said if the race stays on its current course, Sanders will find it increasingly difficult to make up the delegate gap.

“Biden will be the presumptive nominee after Florida. It’s kind of there already, but nobody’s using those explicit words,” said Matt Seyfang, a delegate expert who worked for Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. “You start to run out of scenarios where Bernie can make up the gap. It’s really hard to see a scenario where he can net out so many delegates.”

The major caveat with the calculation is that polling has been very wrong in the past. In 2016, pollsters predicted Hillary Clinton would win big in Michigan. Instead, Sanders eked out a win in the state, breathing new life into his campaign and dragging out the fight for another month. If Sanders does better than expected in Michigan on Tuesday and then moves into a weekend debate against Biden, it could give him renewed momentum.

The fear among some Democrats is that Sanders and his supporters could do damage waging a fruitless battle against Biden at the same time Trump and Republicans are attacking him. While the Democratic National Committee has not intervened in the primary in the past, the party’s flagship super PAC, Priorities USA, is now preparing to provide air cover for Biden against the Republican onslaught.

“No one wants to repeat the political sins of 2016 because we all know there’s little to no education in the second kick of the mule," said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. "The stakes are too high for the Democrats to do anything but to be one band, one sound to go into the most politically consequential election of some of our lifetimes.”

Sanders in recent days has blamed “the establishment” for pressuring Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg to drop out and endorse Biden on the eve of Super Tuesday. Both candidates suffered major losses in South Carolina and were already struggling to raise money.