… Polls show that rank-and-file Democrats generally like Sanders and wouldn’t be disappointed if he were the nominee. And superdelegates, who don’t vote until the second ballot at the convention, might have trouble throwing the nomination to someone else if Sanders clearly had the most votes and delegates.
History doesn’t offer many helpful suggestions, and it offers a great deal of caution. In the winter and spring of 2015, top Republicans were still dead-set against Donald Trump’s candidacy. They wanted to oppose him, but they couldn’t fully get behind one candidate in time. If a fractured, multicandidate field comes out of Iowa, Sanders-skeptical politicians might struggle to get on the same page. CONT.
David Byler, Washington Post