To paraphrase Donald Trump roadkill Marco Rubio: Let’s dispense once and for all with this fiction that Bernie Sanders is going to come from behind and snatch the Democratic presidential nomination from the white-knuckled death-grip of Hillary Clinton.

This will not happen. You know it. I know it. And Bernie Sanders knows it.

Although it is not mathematically impossible for Sanders to catch Clinton — yet — time is running out and with every primary loss he suffers any leverage he might have in the backrooms with the DNC will vanish into thin air. Just like one should “never get involved in a land war in Asia,” a costly and protracted fight with Clinton all the way to the Democratic convention is no way to make friends and influence people.

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As it stands now, Sanders would have to win 80 percent of the delegates in the upcoming primaries to pull ahead– including in the states where he is trailing badly. If that doesn’t seem impossible enough, the Sanders campaign continues to state that they believe that they can somehow convince superdelegates to jump ship from Hillary to his sinking campaign.

Yeah. That’s not gonna happen, so really just stop with that, okay? Seriously.

Still the Sanders campaign soldiers on, asking contributors to pony up another $27 while laying off staffers — but still paying campaign manager Jeff Weaver and consultant Tad Devine and others some serious cash.

As the Washington Post points out:

By the end of March, the self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont had spent nearly $166 million on his campaign — more than any other 2016 presidential contender, including rival Hillary Clinton. More than $91 million went to a small group of ad makers and media buyers who produced a swarm of commercials and placed them on television, radio and online, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports.

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Just like “It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon his not understanding it,” it’s even harder to get a political consultant to shred his own meal ticket.

Right now the Sanders campaign is basically a gym selling $27 memberships to the gullible while the elliptical machines are being repossessed through the backdoor by the bank.

There is no other word for that except “grift.” Well maybe “fraud,” but we’re being nice here.

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The premise behind the continuing campaign is to influence the Democratic platform presumably by offering up the fealty of Bernie voters in a swap for changes — although there is little evidence that the Bernie supporters will flee en masse to either the welcoming arms of Earth Mother Jill Stein or just sit the election out in a protracted snit. It’s all fun and games and poutrage and boasting on Twitter until Donald Trump gets the GOP nomination.

Not having that as a bargaining chip — and assuming that Sanders himself will honor his pledge to back Clinton against Trump or Cruz or Zombie Reagan if teh GOP goes to a second ballot – he stands to get a much better deal the earlier he opts out.

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Suggestion: Start with with “Bring me the head of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz,” and work from there. She’s had a good run, no one really likes her and she’ll have more time to spend with her family and the vultures who make payday loans. Bernie walking away with a tangible victory or two in hand — rather than a few changes to the Democratic Party platform which are more suggestions than binding contracts — might actually be a victory the Bernie revolution can build upon.

At this moment in time the Sanders revolution is beginning to look like Occupy Wall Street in 2011 which went from social movement to sad drum circle in the space of approximately four months. About the only thing Occupy did was spawn a hashtag and the Bernie movement, but it took four years to do it and still no revolution in sight.

If the Sanders campaign is serious about “revolution” and “subverting the dominant paradigm,” as the kids like to say before they get a job, then there will never be a better time than now or perhaps after next week’s Indiana primary that poll wizard Nate Silver gives Hillary Clinton a 87 percent of winning.

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It’s better to walk away with a win or two early than for Bernie to walk out of Philadelphia with nothing or, as Sonny Corleone once put it: “with just his dick in his hands.”