Reports of Bernie Sanders campaign’s death have been greatly exaggerated — here are five reasons why

We're going to have to start pulling the party back together, starting now. Which means that even those of us who have been bullied by Sanders people over the past few months are going to have to start letting that go.

This can't happen until Sanders gets out of the race and encourages his supporters to unify behind Clinton. Because his campaign has been so divisive, contemptuous of her and underhanded, it's an affront and challenge. Every week he stays in, it's a slap in her face and it makes her look weak. He's actually challenging her to take power as has everyone who has claimed she's waiting for a coronation.

In a way, you can read a subliminal conversation going on between Trump and Clinton. Trump is doing what Clinton has always had a problem doing, and why she has failed to secure the leadership of the party so far. Some part of politics is visceral, animal politics -- power. She has to take power and leadership of the party as a power play, not waiting for all the numbers to add up and then the process to machine all the parts of her leadership for her. She needs to do what Trump keeps illustrating for her with every speech, debate and rally.

Clinton needs to take leadership and take power over her party. She needs to punch this dick Sanders in the face and get him off the playground because he's been inducing hate speech against her among his supporters, spreading vile class warfare rhetoric around the issues sphere, and calling and threatening her superdelegates.

Everything Sanders has done and said has been an affront, insult and hijack of her primary season, and much of it has been a direct insult to her. She will have trouble getting true power in the party, as there will be some way to lose it, if she continues to wait for all her opponents to go away. Or, I should say, there's a remote chance all events will play out in some textbook fashion where the coronation she waits politely for occurs for her. But there's still a strong possibility someone will take power over the Democratic party in her place, because she's waiting around letting Sanders use the party and walk all over everybody while threatening people and insulting her.

Simply because Clinton hasn't found a way to slay him, and because Sanders is hanging around continuing to threaten other candidates, her superdelegates and insult her, Sanders remains a threat to her leadership. Why? Just by him continuing to walk all over her party and her campaign, week after week, he's demonstrating that he might not be winning the votes, but neither has she taken power over the Democratic party leadership.

Sanders, with his divisiveness, the horrible, threatening behavior of his supporters and the slurs against Clinton, is like a bully standing in the middle of the classroom and making fun of the teacher, showing all the other kids the teacher has no real power over them. As long as the teacher goes along with it, it shows the other kids she truly is not a leader.

Trump has been Clinton's alter ego all primary season. He's been showing her what she has never been able to do, and what she has to do if she wants to be party leader. She has to take power, and stop waiting for a coronation.

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