2. Weak Coattails: The main reason Democratic pundits are worried about Bernie is because they fear that a "Democratic Socialist" will hurt "down ballot" Democratic candidates. Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg has made this assertion: "Bernie Sanders would 'jeopardize' the re-election of 42 House Democrats in battleground districts and therefore the party's majority rule of the chamber if the self-described Democratic socialist becomes the party's nominee for president."
In 2020, Democrats have to take back both the Presidency and the Senate. If "Moscow Mitch" McConnell remains Senate Majority Leader, he will block most Democratic legislative initiatives. From here, the contested Senate seats are: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, and North Carolina. (Democrats have to win four.)
Consider the situation in Arizona, where there's a contested Senate seat now held by Republican Martha McSally a Trump acolyte. In the 2020 Arizona Senatorial election, she'll be opposed by former astronaut Mark Kelly husband of former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords. In 2016, Arizona narrowly went to Trump. Would Bernie Sanders help or hurt Mark Kelly?
I think that having Bernie as the 2020 Democratic nominee will help improve Arizona voter turnout and that will help Mark Kelly. Republicans will run negative ads targeting Bernie and Democrats will run negative ads targeting Trump; those will cancel out.
The Nevada exit polls indicated that the most important issues were: health care, climate change, and income inequality. If these are the most important issues in (neighboring) Arizona, Sanders will help Mark Kelly because Bernie is much stronger on these issues than is Trump. (Actually Trump isn't strong on any issue other than the "economy" and, at the moment, this is teetering because of the impact of the coronavirus.)
I believe that Bernie will help down-ballot Democratic senatorial candidates in Arizona, Colorado, and Maine. I'm not sure about Georgia, Kansas, and North Carolina.
3. Temperament: Like Trump, Bernie offers his own brand of charisma. That attracts loyal followers but masks his irascibility. He really is crochety Uncle Bernie.
Writing in the New York Times, Frank Bruni observes: "[Bernie Sanders] isn't and has never been popular with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate" I know that because I've heard some of those colleagues talk about him, describing him as arrogant, uncooperative, unyielding, even mean."
Summary: Maybe the 2020 election will come down to "our S.O.B. versus their S.O.B." Personally, I'd hoped that the Democratic candidate would be someone who could make progress on healing the nation. Perhaps that's too much to hope for.
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