Now that The Donald has Trumped the GOP (see what I did there?) there is just as wide and sharp a schism growing in the Democratic Party, its just been overshadowed by the Rise of the Towering Trump.

Donald Trump GOP vs. Hillary Clinton DEM vs Bernie Sanders IND

I'm not quite ready to rule this one out yet, even though it is wildly theoretical.

But 11 months ago, none of us took Trump seriously.

END OF MESSAGE

.....He's tasted the fumes of success, probably measured a few W.H. drapes and is sitting on a mountain pile of cash. His "true believers" are just as wacky as he is and will support him right through November. They could care less about Hilliary.

Re: Sanders - that's the thing - IF it turned into a three candidate race, None of them get a majority. None of them get 270.
It goes to court and the electoral college is dissolved in favor of a 1 voter 1 vote system.

Now, that's my prediction if the unlikely scenario of a sanders trump clinton race turns real. Otherwise, its moot. I can see the logic behind that assessment, but in my view, the RNC recognizes it is a party left in shambles after all the infighting and disintegration of cooperation among the anti Trump elite mainstream establishment factors. They need to clean their house internally and give their base and potential next generation of voters a reason to be confident of their futures. Ergo, what they need, is to repair as much damage as they can to their party brand, or go ahead and complete the schism and end the Republican party as we know it. Which means we would see a Tea Party led Ted Cruz back in 2020 for another try, this time against Kanye West and the incumbent.  

And if you thought the 2016 campaign was entertaining, just wait till President Hillary Donald Clintrump debates Kanye West and Ted Cruz over Twitter and Snapchat

By staying in the race he is dragging Hillary further and further to the left and not allowing her to pivot to the center, which is something she has wanted and expected to be able to do for several weeks now, as she knows the further left she gets dragged against her will, the harder it will be to ever get back to center.  

I think Bernie stays viable, but still only the runner up, until the very day/s of the convention. I think he plans on forcing Hillary to adopt some of his ideas before throwing in for her. This is great news for Trump as he won't be the one going into a contested convention and this gives him a two month head start to begin shifting gear to the GE.