His critics retort that the odds of superdelegates defecting en masse are slim to none.

My objection to his soldiering on is a bit different.

In the event that Hillary Clinton is indicted for a crime, suffers a serious health setback, or is enmeshed in an unexpected scandal between now and July, Democrats may yet be glad that they can still technically go with another candidate.

Sanders should stay present and prepared just in case.

But unless the Sanders campaign expects that sort of development, unless they are anticipating significant new information that the rank-and-file didn’t factor into voting decisions, its apparent effort to secure the nomination with superdelegates—having lost on total votes, states, and pledged delegates—seems antithetical to the whole “people-powered” rhetoric and spirit of the Sanders campaign.

As many Sanders supporters have bitterly noted, superdelegates provide an anti-democratic mechanism for the establishment to stop voters from making a choice they dislike.

If Sanders would have won more votes, more states, and more pledged delegates, but been denied the Democratic nomination by superdelegates, his supporters would have erupted in outrage, denouncing the nomination as stolen and illegitimate.

Those same supporters cannot in good faith support a Sanders push to secure the nomination with superdelegates now that he has won fewer votes, states, and pledged delegates. It would be farcical for a man who says he’s running to inspire a “political revolution” to ascend to power via party elites subverting the will of voters.

“To all of those Bernie Sanders voters who have been left out in the cold by a rigged system of superdelegates,” Donald Trump said Tuesday during his victory speech, “we welcome you with open arms.” As usual, Trump’s rhetoric was at odds with reality. The superdelegate system didn’t cost Sanders the nomination—in fact, if it didn’t exist, he would have no path to the nomination at all. As hard as it is for his supporters to accept, his victory would be less legitimate than a victory by his opponent.