One of Sanders’s biggest advantages at this point is that no clear moderate alternative has emerged. The alternatives are splitting votes. Buttigieg and Klobuchar both see themselves as the strongest alternative, as does Michael Bloomberg, who is now faring pretty well in national polls of Democrats.

Josh Kraushaar of National Journal predicts that the race has a long way to go. In 2016, the Republican Party awarded delegates on a winner-take-all basis, which meant that Trump could build a solid lead even with narrow primary wins. The Democratic Party awards delegates proportionately. “The most likely long-term outcome is a muddle,” Kraushaar writes, “with Sanders slowly racking up more delegates than his rivals but well short of the majority necessary to win the party’s nomination.”

Bill Barr’s Justice Department: After Watergate, the Department of Justice created a new ethos that was meant to keep future presidents from abusing their power. That ethos would ensure that the department was the most independent, least partisan agency of the executive branch.

Presidents would continue to set policy, obviously, but they would not influence specific investigations. They would not use the law to protect themselves and their allies or to punish their political rivals. “Our law is not an instrument of partisan purpose,” said Edward Levi, the first post-Watergate attorney general, appointed by President Gerald Ford. Griffin Bell, who succeeded Levi and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, described the Justice Department as “a neutral zone in the government, because the law has to be neutral.”

President Trump has never hidden his disagreement with this ethos. He believes that the Justice Department should report to the president and act in his interest, including punishing a president’s opponents and protecting his allies.