IMHO, Bernie owes nothing to the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton, in particular.

My biggest concern about a collaboration with the Green party is that they are on the ballot in less than half of the states. I do not know which ones that they have qualified in, so maybe 20 or 21 big states would be enough. I do know that the Green party has qualified in Florida which is where I vote.

Problem is that Bernie wouldn't be invited to any future debates by the MSM.

He crushed Hillary in every single one on the issues, and there's no way they will ever allow a third party candidate to do that to an establishment Politician, EVER again.

If this happens we seriously need alternative media to organize MAJOR events online that invite all the candidates, and publicly read from the position statements of the other candidates if they refuse to show. As sarcastically as possible. And if the candidate has taken multiple positions, all those positions must be aired.

Yes, this is essentially a Fuck You Hillary Debate. Heck, we could probably get the Republicans to sponsor it if we called it that, even IF we called them out on their bullshit too...

I am totally in favor of the idea of Sanders and his supporters fighting hard until the last primary vote is cast. Denying Clinton the number of pledged delegates necessary to win the nomination outright would be very meaningful, and a huge symbolic victory. But does anyone really think that even under the most optimistic scenario, Clinton's allies in the Democratic Party won't still be able to guarantee a first ballot victory via the super-delegates? The whole super-delegate system was created to deal with exactly this kind of scenario.

So how can a guy who has campaigned tirelessly on a platform of anti-militaristic foreign policy, anti-job killing "free trade" agreements, anti-for profit health care, anti-non regulation of Wall Street, and so many other anti-corporate, pro-average citizen positions turn around and endorse a candidate who, on virtually every major issue, favors the things Bernie opposes, and opposes the things he favors? It just doesn't make any sense. And to say that it's a two horse race, so you have to back one or the other does nothing more than reinforce and strengthen the corporate duopoly that is content, in election after election, to offer voters two barely distinguishable flavors of more of the same.

The contrast between Hillary Clinton and Jill Stein couldn't be clearer. The latter is a true progressive in the Eugene Debs, Robert LaFollette, Hiram Johnson mold. The former is a standard issue, right-wing neoliberal corporate tool. Yesterday Bernie asked the Democratic Party the question, "whose side are you on"? Well, the time is rapidly approaching when it will be appropriate for Bernie's supporters to ask him the same question.

Because the coverage and debates define "legitimacy." But when you look at the current situation, Sen. Sanders has effectively been denied the the coverage part of the equation, but despite that has effectively tied with the prime Deep State Establishment candidate.

Sen. Sanders, according to polls, brings about 33% of the vote with him a priori. And presumably, that brings with it audience, which means $$$.

So, the MSM will be faced with the choice of $$ now (from debate audience) vs. ensuring against possible lost $$ under a potential (but from their belief unlikely) Sanders Presidency.

We're really entering into uncharted waters, as the last marginally viable 3rd party candidate, Ross Perot, though he had a substantial following, had nothing remotely as large as Sen. Sanders.

have made it clear their primary goal politically is to prevent Trump from becoming President, meaning he will endorse Clinton and ask his supporters to do the same. He said even before he started he would not do a "Nadar" by going third party and siphoning off votes from the Dem party. He's said his revolution is about "revitalizing" the Democratic party. That's simply not going to be done with an alliance with the Greens.

It's going to be interesting to hear what he has to say at the convention regarding this because he knows it's out there hot and heavy regarding him running as a Green or an indie.

And I would vote for him if he did. He would have plenty of grounds to break his word, God knows. He didn't get anything resembling a fair shake from the corrupt Dem establishment. HOWEVER, I do think there would be something lost of the essential Bernie if he reversed himself on this issue. It's sad that he was so adamant on the subject, but he was. (Trump, on the other hand, kept his options open; he's been terrorizing the Rs into keeping their meddling to a minimum by threatening a third party run from the beginning. Very Trumpian. And it has pretty much worked. He'll get the nomination in the first round even if he falls short in the delegate count because he'll take his people and run indie and they know it.)

between Sanders and those of his supporters who say they're not voting for Clinton. And it needs to happen before the point at which Sanders will be expected to endorse Clinton. Are we ready for this?

Just as I cannot see Hill second-guessing her base instincts and actually moving leftward in policy, I cannot fathom Bernie telling his supporters to vote for her. There's a promise and there's a travesty, and telling voters to vote for somebody they loathe and don't trust is a travesty and a betrayal. I hope that Bernie doesn't negate all he stands for and go there.

Bernie is a man of integrity, and in his last debate he was asked about what he's doing to help the Democratic Party. Regardless of how you may feel about the Dem Party, he did say that he is helping down-ballot candidates, and later on he said that he would do all he could to get a Democrat into the White House.

I can see that Jill Stein wants to get some of that Bernie Sanders mojo working for her, and it wouldn't hurt for Bernie to have a meeting with Jill. Who knows? Maybe it'll make some superdelegates nervous of a potential Jill/Bernie ticket that could spoil their chances of electing a Democrat—though this is predicated on the assumption that many, if even any, of these superdelegates would want to have Bernie elected president, or if they're there to prevent that. However, probably the most important thing that sets Bernie apart from Hillary is integrity.

It's not a good look for him to stab the Dem Party in the back, regardless of how corrupt they are, if it means taking a shot as his own integrity.