Lots of traditionally alienated and disengaged people turned out for Sanders in the primaries

[mythology]

7. The problem with nominating Sanders over Clinton is that

there were more Clinton supporters than Sanders supporters. You assume that if we had nominated Sanders that the Clinton supporters would have voted for Sanders. Sanders did poorly in most primaries with black and Hispanic voters. Who's to say those groups wouldn't have dipped in the general if the candidate they supported by wide margins was pushed aside for a candidate that received fewer votes? As it is, those two groups didn't really grow as a percentage of the overall electorate this time.

That said, I think the party should take a look at what motivated the Sanders supporters not just for future party platforms, but also for motivating those voters to vote in future elections, especially in down ticket races. And that does mean supporting more candidates in the mold of Sanders, particularly at the local level. Sanders started out as mayor and moved up. As the Green party shows, trying to just run for President isn't an effective strategy. In particular, I think California with the jungle primary system would be a great place to start running more Sanders like candidates.