Hillary's increasing lead in the polls makes it more likely that Sanders won't concede [View all]

until the convention.

I (and many others) have assumed for a while now that Sanders would concede within a week or so of DC and endorse Hillary. I'm wavering significantly in that belief. Part of it has to do with his campaign's rhetoric, part of it has to do with the polls, and part of it has to do with Donald Trump.

If the polls are solid for Hillary vs. Trump, there's less pressure on Sanders to concede for the sake of party unity and the GE. Her building poll lead gives him more leeway to continue on, because the perception that he's hurting her GE chances is lower than it would have been if the polls were tight or showed Trump ahead. Trump's horrible public performances of the past week give Sanders more breathing room to stay in it until the convention.

The problem for Sanders, of course, is that by doing so, he risks losing whatever clout he built up during the primaries, because the same factor that gives him the leeway to continue on - the building poll lead - reduces the perception of his and his supporters' importance in the GE. It's an interesting tightrope he's walking.