5 June 2016: Why Bernie doesn't want to give up

Why Bernie doesn’t want to give up
The math is clear – it is almost impossiblefor Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic nomination.  So, why is he still vowing to continue the fight? 
As a strong Bernie fan, who has supported him in my blogand in Facebook, has given him money, put up a lawn sign and bumper sticker, worn his T-shirts and talked to many people to promote his candidacy, these are my thoughts:
First, he doesn’t want to give up the limelight.  He has been making the same passionate arguments for 30 years, but was uniformly ignored, except recently.  How many of us would continue a cause for 5 or even 10 years, without seeing much progress?  How about 20 or 25 years?  This is activism far beyond what most of us are familiar with, at least an order of magnitude beyond our support for our synagogue, our local school or our friends.  I am sure that for most of his recent adult life, he endured friends and families taunting him, criticizing him and ostracizing him.  But now, things are different.   He draws record-breaking crowds, and millions are giving him money.  And he seemed so close to victory.  Perhaps if he just keeps pushing.  . .  Having gone through similar experiences, but on a different scale, I am not going to criticize him for not giving up. But the rest of us have an obligation to recognize reality and act accordingly to support Hillary and oppose “The Donald”.
Second, he may believe that his continuation gives him more leverage at the Democratic Convention, although I think this is not actually true.  At this point, he has something that the Democratic establishment wants – his taking steps to support Hillary.  Each week that passes, that becomes less valuable, and they learn how to live without it.  He should start negotiating now to get the Democratic Party to move more on those positions he deems most important.
Third, it may be that his (usually) young supporters may be driving him to continue.  However, I am sure he is capable of reining them in (at least most of them), if he wants to.
I think the reality is starting to set in for Bernie, based on the changing tone of his statements.  Now the task for the rest of us is to support Hillary, and take more  seriously our responsibility of overseeing the governments that we own, whether local, state or federal.  The government neglect and mediocrity we have witnessed, particularly in Michigan, can only occur because we are not paying attention or willing to act.