I'm skeptical of him outperforming Clinton for one primary (har) reason: he was never subject to significant, sustained attacks. Clinton, knowing she had won, was trying not to antagonize his supporters further, and Republicans of course were happy to see him stay in as long as possible. I personally think Sanders has significant vulnerabilities that would have become more prominent and dragged him down if he were the nominee. Sort of like how the most popular guy in town is the second string quarterback.
I like Bernie - I would have happily voted for him had he been the nominee. I am skeptical of his electoral strength in a nationwide election though, but as you mention this isn't Star Trek so there's no Goateed Bernie in a mirror universe to run.
Fair enough, I didn't mean to interject Bernie into this silly debate to be honest. Unless he dies, Biden is running and that's all that really matters.
Obviously I disagree with the notion that Sanders was "unelectable." Like I said, I've never cast a ballot for Bernie so it's funny that I'm now being accused of being a "Bernie bro." Worse, that Bernie loyalists (such as myself) should be compared to MAGAt election deniers.
As Nate Silver explained often, Trump has a high floor and a low ceiling (it's very unlikely he could ever hit 50% of the vote in a national election). He won in 2016 only because of a perfect storm of factors: his opponent had an unlikability as bad as his, if not outright worse. Electoral College math. And specifically a crumbling of the Blue wall in the Rust Belt. And don't forget Jim Comey's ridiculous interference, of course.
It's fair to question whether a Jewish Social Democrat could win a national election, since he hadn't been able to do so in 2 primary cycles. And before 2016, I wouldn't have thought he'd have a snowball's chance. If Biden were to quit tomorrow, I wouldn't hitch my ride to Sanders at this point based on age alone. But like I said, the thin evidence we have is that he polled well against DJT. And that he wouldn't have lost all the Rust Belt voters that ran away from Hillary. But anyway, that's all academic and completely irrelevant in the here and now.
Before 2020, I thought Biden was a weak candidate in the field (based largely on his national campaign history), so what do I know.