Bernie Sanders didn’t lose because he made tactical mistakes. He didn’t lose because he was soft on Biden, or because the establishment rigged the process against him. He had more money than his opponents, so that wasn’t it, either. He lost because of one word–socialism.
Socialism means different things to different parts of the electorate, but they are all negative. To relatively affluent Democrats, it means paying higher taxes and losing money on their investments. To the great mass of identity voters, it means that Sanders doesn’t accept their critique of society, and falsely blames all of the nation’s ills on greedy businessmen. To older voters, it means dealing with dramatic change at a time in their lives when they want peace and quiet. And to pragmatic voters, it is a label that leads to defeat in November. No one wants that.
The left thinks it has the support of working people in this country, but it doesn’t. All it has is younger voters with little to lose who stand to benefit financially from many of the expensive new programs that Sanders espouses. Until it comes up with a way to win over identity voters, instead of just complaining about “false consciousness,” it will never win national elections in this country. Dropping “socialism” would be a good first step.