Bernie Sanders at a campaign event (2020). Source: Getty Images

The one thing that nobody disputes is that the last several weeks have been rough for Sanders’ campaign.

Sanders began the primary season by winning the popular vote in Iowa, and outright winning New Hampshire and Nevada. His momentum seemed unstoppable.

But then Joe Biden, bolstered by older, more conservative Democrats in South Carolina, gave him his first ever primary victory in the thirty years that he has been running for president, and in a span of about three days, the entire Democratic establishment coalesced around him. With newfound support from Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and much of the rest of the establishment, coupled with Elizabeth Warren’s utter refusal to support the progressive movement by dropping out and endorsing Sanders, Biden swept on Super Tuesday, and he has been almost completely victorious in the primaries conducted since. Not even Biden’s ludicrous display of outright lying to the American people during last weekend’s debate stopped him from winning the last few contests in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois.

While most Americans are, with good reason, focused on how to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID-19, the Democratic establishment has been arguing that Sanders needs to drop out, declaring that the Party needs to be united in their efforts to stop Trump in November by ending the primaries early.

As is often the case, I disagree with the establishment Democrats’ argument that Sanders should concede.

First and foremost, as the Democratic Party, the concept of democracy should actually be promoted. Now that we are down to just two candidates in the primaries, both holding vastly different sets of viewpoints and wildly separate visions for the United States, the remaining primary and caucus states ought to have a chance to have their voices heard. Indeed, even if the delegate math was outright impossible for Sanders to overcome, the voices of constituents should be heard.

Of course, the race is far from over. At this point, only 27 states, Americans abroad, and two territories have had a chance to cast ballots during the primaries, and the next round of state voting won’t even occur until next month.

A Sanders Campaign virtual roundtable on the coronavirus (2020).

A lot can happen within the next few weeks. Remember, Biden’s campaign was resurrected from death, resuscitated by the Democratic establishment, over the course of a mere 72 hour period in early March. Moreover, given the coronavirus, some states are delaying their primaries (as they should; people shouldn’t have to risk their lives in order to cast a ballot). It is also very well possible that voters in the remaining states will juxtapose Sanders’ constant efforts to fight COVID-19, such as his daily tele-town halls, fireside chats, virtual roundtables, legislative efforts, and raising two million dollars to tackle the coronavirus, with Biden’s milquetoast response to the virus and his inability to campaign using 21st century technology and come to the conclusion that Sanders is much more equipped to handle the urgent responsibilities of being president during times of crisis than, ironically, the former vice president.

Beyond the virus, we should recall that Biden’s is a walking gaffe magnet. In fact, one of the reasons why he isn’t constantly talking to reporters and holding town halls, apart from his campaign being unable to adequately live stream (Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook live streaming can be set-up in a manner of minutes), is the fact that he is prone to say downright ugly or awkward things when not reading from a teleprompter or being forced to act presidential on a debate stage. While his long list of gaffes have yet to actually hurt Biden, he could very easily say or do something that sways undecided voters into Sanders’ camp, assuming that Sanders’ actual substantive response to the coronavirus hasn’t done so already by that time.

Indeed, while Sanders is winning the ideological argument (exit polls show that primary voters believe in Bernie’s vision for America), voters are disproportionately clinging on to Biden due to their incorrect perception that he is, somehow, more electable than the Vermont Senator. It is very possible that, given the coronavirus, a Biden gaffe, or a different issue entirely that we’d never be able to predict in such turbulent times, could shift the public’s perception of electability into Sanders’ favor, thus further strengthening the argument that he should remain in the race.

A map of the current primary results by national pledged delegate victories. Source: Wikipedia

Is the math on Biden’s side? At this point, certainly. As of this writing, Biden currently has 1,201 delegates to Bernie’s 896 delegates, a difference of 305. Candidates need 1,991 delegates to win, and while not likely at this point, Sanders still has a chance of beating Biden, especially if more primaries are delayed.

Let’s say, though, that the race is all but over for Bernie. Even if Biden’s current lead was insurmountable, Bernie should continue campaigning in order to place pressure on the Democratic establishment. This means continuing to advocate for progressive policies, such as universal healthcare, the Green New Deal, and expanding the social safety net and pressuring the Party to take our healthcare, environmental, and socio-economic catastrophes seriously. While the Democratic establishment is opposed to such efforts, they would be foolish to not officially adopt Sanders’ platform. This is because millions of progressives, especially young voters, are already feeling alienated from a party which seemingly lacks any sort of ideology other than being anti-Trump. As we saw in 2016, simply being anti-Trump is not enough, and the Democratic Party needs to actually advocate for a progressive platform. Of course, if they do adopt a progressive platform, it remains to be seen if alienated progressives will actually believe the party establishment, but they should at least try.

If Sanders drops out now, he will lose much of his current leverage, and the Democratic Party establishment will be much less likely to consider the progressive platform than if Bernie arrives to the Democratic National Convention with a sizable chunk of delegates. The party would be able to easily make the case that they can simply ignore Bernie and his army of supporters if he drops out several months before the convention, whereas continuing the campaign into the summer would force the Democratic establishment to take us seriously.

As a member of the Democratic establishment, Biden would also likely adopt more progressive positions, as he did prior to the last debate by adding free (albeit means tested) higher education to his platform, if Sanders continues running. Personally, I highly doubt that Biden would actually push a staunchly progressive platform if he gets the nomination and manages to beat Trump (which, given how the Party has bungled their response to the coronavirus coupled with the American people’s positive view of Trump’s response, is a big “if” at this point). Indeed, Biden has a long history of pushing a neo-liberal agenda and lying to the American people, so I doubt pretty much anything that comes out his mouth at this point, but purely from a strategic perspective, it would be ludicrous for Biden’s campaign to not at least adopt more of the progressive platform to try and attract alienated voters.

Given the fluidity of the current political landscape, Sanders should most definitely stay in the race. In the short-term, I agree with his strategy of putting the “fucking global crisis” above politics and focusing most of his efforts on stopping the coronavirus. Over the next few months, though, assuming that the COVID-19 pandemic ceases during this time, Sanders should continue vigorously campaigning for president, contrasting himself with Biden in the hopes of winning more states and swaying enough constituents to take the lead once again.

Of course, if Bernie falls short in the ultimate delegate count, though, Sanders should ensure that all primary voters have their voices heard and continue pushing a progressive agenda by running until the end. At best, this approach will give Bernie and the progressive movement much more leverage to negotiate a progressive platform going into the Democratic National Convention and push Biden to the left, at least on the surface.

The Democratic Party establishment would love to see Bernie go away. Indeed, they’d rather see Sanders as an irrelevant upstart who quits less than two months into primary season than to be forced to reckon with him and his movement at the convention.

Let’s not give them that option.