In 2016 the most frequent objection to Bernie Sanders’s candidacy from leading Democrats arguably concerned his electability. Sanders, proclaimed an army of insiders, pundits, and party apparatchiks, simply couldn’t win a general election against Donald Trump or any other would-be Republican nominee — especially compared to the eminently electable Hillary Clinton. Proponents of this narrative tended to dismiss a great deal of evidence to the contrary: from the size, energy, and dynamism of Sanders’s crowds to the deluge of opinion polls suggesting that there was a very real possibility Clinton might lose to several of the GOP’s prospective nominees and that Sanders could win.

However party elites may have felt about Sanders’s chances in 2016, his momentum ahead of 2020 is fast becoming impossible for them to deny. Earlier this week, an Emerson College poll showed him leading all other Democratic candidates, with most trailing far behind. A more important measure, however, is probably his fundraising returns — which not only outstrip his rivals’ but include a huge number of small donations from a much larger pool of contributors. Sanders’s adeptness at taking his message to hostile territory, evidenced by a successful appearance at a Fox News town hall event this week, only adds to the overall impression.

In a different political cosmos, Democratic insiders might be overjoyed to see a popular frontrunner generate so much enthusiasm so early in the race. Recent reporting from the New York Times, however, suggests party elites are already plotting against Sanders, complete with secretive dinners featuring players from throughout the Democratic establishment and the donor class: