A lot of younger leaders were inspired by the idea of Bernie in 2016 and probably bought into the decades long efforts to portray Hillary Clinton as conservative or corrupt. Many of these folks ran on a progressive platform. However, when they actually had to deal with Bernie, they got burned. Beto O'Rourke at one time tried to fashion himself as a Bernie protege. However, after he started looking like he might cut into Bernie's youth support, Bernie's campaign smeared him. Not surprisingly, Beto O'Rourke endorsed Biden.
Likewise, you have AOC who Bernie heavily leaned on as a surrogate. However, when she tried to actually do her own job representing her constituents, Bernie's campaign started to leak negative stories about her suggesting that she let Bernie down:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-bernie-sanders-campaign-rallies_n_5e6ade51c5b6bd8156f44356
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) turned down repeated requests from Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to appear at events promoting the Vermont senator’s candidacy in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
After the Iowa caucuses, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir asked Ocasio-Cortez to stump for Sanders in New Hampshire, according to the sources. The campaign prepared a model schedule to highlight the kind of popular support she would expect if she attended, one of the people familiar with the talks said.
Ocasio-Cortez resisted the entreaties until a few days before the primary on Feb. 12. She ultimately spoke the day before the election at a Sanders rally in Durham, New Hampshire, where the rock band The Strokes performed.
“It was like pulling teeth to get her to New Hampshire,” said a second person who knew about the discussions.
I used to like Bernie prior to the 2016 election. However, that he is a very vain, thin-skinned, narcissistic man who can't stand other folks getting the credit or the attention, particularly younger proteges. The falling out with Beto O'Rourke is instructive.
Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
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