Why do you feel that Sanders isn't a challenger? He certainly seems disruptive to me. That doesn't even mean he's the best, just that he's more against the establishment than he is for it. And Gabbard doesn't really have that visionary spark or a unifying force; her main allure is to both a small cross-section of independents and to conservatives who say they'd support her but would just vote Trump anyway.
As it stands, if people like Mike Cernovich and Russian outlets like RT back Gabbard (and they have), that to me raises alarm bells. They want chaos, division, a candidate that serves Trump's chances rather than a return to functioning (if flawed) democracy.
For a few reasons.
One, each Democrat candidate has a signature theme:
Sanders - political revolution
Warren - Just enough political revolution to excite the progressives without scaring the centrists
Yang - economic revolution
Buttigieg - moral leadership
Klobuchar - win back the rust belt
Gabbard - an end to American foreign policy adventurism
If I were to rank the issues important to me, they would be:
1. Global warming
2. Restore the middle class
3. End military adventurism
Biden seems to placate wall street and hand out Obama member berries. I agree with Warren that he is not the candidate who can rise to this moment, I don’t care how many people weekend at bernie’s him over the finish line.
The DNC establishment delivered a strategic blow to Sanders by consolidating around Biden. The timing of the endorsements and media blitz surrounding it was a well orchestrated and coordinated effort to sway the considerable number of undecided voters.
Other candidates who never had a chance at the nomination are now all angling for cabinet positions or the VP slot, kissing the ring of the candidate I consider most capable of losing to Trump.
Gabbard stands in opposition to the lemmings.