When I look at the Democratic primaries, I see an ideological struggle pitting Bernie Sanders against the party establishment. 

But that probably isn’t what most Democratic primary voters see. They’ve been watching a totally different contest: a months-long televised audition to find a qualified, appealing leader who can win in November. Ideological differences aren’t foremost in their minds; in fact, many voters probably find them difficult to parse. The candidates are all Democrats, aren’t they? What more is there to say?

Voters do see differences, of course. But they’re mainly differences of style and temperament: some candidates are dealmakers, others are scrappers. Some are outsiders, others power brokers. And of course there are differences of age and gender. As for Bernie, probably everyone recognizes him as the pugnacious outsider in the race, the kind of politician who errs more on the side of principle than expediency (whether they’re into that sort of thing or not).