Well, note that I said "gave him the edge needed to win"
I don't think Bernie *caused* Trump to be elected either (lots of things did ranging from normal "change" cycle after 8 years of Obama, to dislike/distrust for Hillary, to Russian interference, to Comey, to a fractured Dem base thanks to Sanders, to Trump's unique "force of nature" quality as an unconventional candidate, to a bizarre GOP primary, to turnout issues for Hillary to just plain luck). But Bernie certainly helped fracture the Democratic base and the nature and tone of his campaign against Hillary (plus the Russians weaponizing the DNC's reaction to it) contributed to his support base either not voting, voting for a 3P candidate, or actually crossing over and voting for Trump (all of which absolutely happened).
With the margins as razor thin in the three states that mattered, I don't see how you dismiss that as irrelevant. Without Bernie being such a pain in the ass and without his supporters being so disgruntled, Hillary's chances of making up for a few thousand lost votes in PA, WI and MI are certainly better.
I'd point to three bits of evidence that support that position:
-Look at the number of Stein voters in PA, MI, and WI and compare them to the margin of victory. The two numbers are about that same. Those tended to be disaffected liberals who supported Bernie in the primaries.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/02/jill-stein-sanders-supporters-green-party
-Look at the number of registered Democrats, particularly younger voters who were Bernie's strongest support base (and especially African-American Millennials, who were very strongly pro-Bernie) who did not vote. Drop-off was significant from 2012 and especially important in Milwaukee, Detroit and Philly.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/registered-voters-who-stayed-home-probably-cost-clinton-the-election/
-Exit polls showed that 1 out of 10 Sanders supporters ended up voting for Trump.
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds
So no, I don't think you can claim "the evidence doesn't support it." Enough evidence is there to say what Sanders' support base did in the election was relevant. The only real questions are whether Sanders was the "but for" or just one of many contributing factors; whether his supporters NEVER would have voted for Hillary (and so it doesn't matter), etc. but those are the questions the evidence doesn't answer.
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In response to this post by southdenverhoo)
Posted: 02/19/2020 at 3:25PM