If Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for president, The Capital Times will undoubtedly support his challenge to Donald Trump. By every measure that this newspaper applies to politics, the former vice president is superior to the current president.

But we would be dishonest if we suggested that Biden was our first, second or third choice for the Democratic nomination. We preferred a number of the other prospects, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

As the April 7 primary approaches, however, Warren and Castro are out of the running and Sanders trails Biden in the race for delegates by a margin that many analysts suggest is insurmountable.

We understand that a good number of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters will choose to cast a party unity vote for Biden — on the theory that it is time to close the deal and get down to the serious business of taking on Trump.

Fair enough.

But we also understand that a good many voters will choose to cast their ballots for Sanders because he continues to offer a bolder and more progressive vision for the future of the party and the nation.