OK, it's the NYT, and it's about Hillary Clinton, so take it with a grain of salt, but if true this is some kind of stupid all right:



If Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new apology for her private email server fails to reassure jittery supporters, it could amplify the chatter among some Democrats who have been casting about for a potential white knight to rescue the party from a beleaguered Clinton candidacy. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Al Gore: Each has been discussed among party officials in recent weeks as an alternative to Mrs. Clinton if she does not regain her once-dominant standing in the 2016 presidential field and instead remains mired in the long-running email controversy, with its attendant investigations.... It is not just Mrs. Clinton’s weakness in the polls that has generated talk of other alternatives, but also the strength of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is routinely drawing huge crowds at campaign events. That has been disconcerting to Democratic officials who believe that Mr. Sanders, a socialist, is so liberal that his presence at the top of the party’s ticket in 2016 would be disastrous. “If party leaders see a scenario next winter where Bernie Sanders has a real chance at the Democratic nomination, I think there’s no question that leaders will reach out to Vice President Biden or Secretary of State Kerry or even Gore about entering the primaries,” said Garnet F. Coleman, a Texas state lawmaker and Democratic national committeeman.

“As Democratic Party officials see Bernie Sanders’s mounting strength with voters, I think they will begin to better understand that he will not only be a strong nominee who can help Democrats all across the country win elections, but he actually will be the white knight if they need one,” said Mr. Devine...

Bernie Sanders' senior advisor Tad Devine thinks that Democratic party officials will come around and give his guy a chance when they see just how good Sanders is in the televised debates and realize his strengths:I wouldn't bet on it, Mr Devine. These people want nothing more than the losers they know and love, proven presidential losers like Biden, Kerry, and Gore.

The last thing they want is a strong nominee who might shake up the party and bring in new voters -- voters attracted by someone running on real and popular Democratic policies instead of on the threadbare warmongering neo-liberal crap they've been trying to peddle to voters for the past generation.

They'd rather lose than have to admit that it's time for a change.