>So, no.

And...it was Hillary.

I definitely think he has pull in a Dem primary. I think it would bey unwise to underestimate him.

I could go on and on about how popular he is, but I'd just point you to Joe Biden still being a thing.

That isn't because of Joe.

>
>But what I was actually saying was that his presidency and
>ex-presidency has been consumed with a nearly pathological
>observance of "norms" - a habit the article mentioned at
>length - and that his decision to break those norms in order
>to sabotage the democratic primary would be pretty out of
>character.

This is a good point, which is why I said I think this is why he hasn't endorsed yet.

But if it comes down to Joe Biden/Pete or Bernie? I think Obama gets involved.

His passive aggressive shots at Bernie and Warren are a small preview imo.

>
>But even if he were to do it, I've got faith that people will
>ignore him. Sitting out an active engagement with politics for
>four years when the news cycle moves as quickly as it does now
>means he effectively doesn't have a political voice any
>longer.

Maybe, but again I'd point to how large his shadow looms. Joe Biden is coasting off his Obama association. Every candidate coming to his child's christening...I mean, coming to his office.

I don't think the Bernie camp should underestimate this challenge.

>
>To your larger question: I think Bernie can win a fair fight
>and even a slightly unfair one. Democrats are, at the end of
>the day, a bunch of procedure nerds and suckups and the power
>brokers in the party will only sabotage him up until the point
>when he's a clear favorite because going beyond that will
>jeopardize their jobs and reputation. Sort of like what
>happened with the Republicans and Trump, actually. Lot of "how
>dare you!" dorks in the GOP shifted gears to boot licking
>pretty fast.


Maybe, but Dems love to punch themselves in the face a lot more than the GOP does.

Also, the super-delegate factor which kfine understand a lot better than I do.