Of all the key variables at play in the calculus of political campaigning, Time is the one that has always been most crucial to the aspirations of Bernie Sanders and his hopeful supporters.

There are other variables, of course.  Without a compelling vision to arouse the passions of your followers, very little chance of success can be expected.  That particular variable is one that works for Bernie in a big way, and can be counted as one of his major strengths.

After that variable is covered, one runs into another variable that is surely of equal importance, and that is having sufficient money to get your message heard above the efforts of your competitors.  This variable has also proven to be a major strength of his campaign.

Indeed, the fact that these two key  variables are major strengths of the Sanders campaign is a primary source of the enthusiasm that his supporters have long felt for his prospects.

But there is another key variable which is likely to determine whether or not Bernie is able to beat the odds and pull off an historic victory in June, and that is time.

The reason why time is such an important variable to the aspirations of the Sanders campaign is the simple fact that prior to his presidential bid over this past year, very few Democrats across the country knew anything at all about the man, and even those who did could not envision him as being able to mount a serious effort within the party to become it nominee in 2016.

Normally, someone who runs for the nomination of the Democratic Party spends years trying to meet every Dem official he can to try to convince that person to support him when he runs for President some years down the line.  

This, of course is precisely what the Clinton campaign has done in a way that far exceeds the effort they made in 2008 and it has always been rightfully considered her single biggest strength, one she has enjoyed from day one.

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So why do Sanders supporters remain hopeful?  

It’s because they know that when people get to know the real Bernie Sanders, and not just the unflattering rumors of bernie sanders that have been generated, they like him.

The question, then, is whether or not the Bernie Sanders campaign will have enough time to replace those dismissive rumors of bernie sanders with the reality of who he is.

Yes, money is clearly part of the answer.  In the states that he has won, it is clear that he would never have been able to pull it off if not for the campaign’s ability to reach voters directly through advertising and other methods of communication, instead of relying on the MSM and the supposedly sage advice of senior members of the Democratic Party establishment.

It is the best way for us to make the voters aware of who the real Bernie Sanders is, instead of them simply accepting the discouraging rumors they’ve been hearing.

But as important as money is in the calculus of this campaign, time is even a bigger factor.  As we saw in the results of last Tuesday’s primaries, we ended up not having enough time, not enough days on the calendar, to erase the big leads that Clinton had enjoyed a week previous.

To put it quite simply, the clock ran out on us.  With very few days between the primaries thus far, we may have had enough money to spend on the advertising that is needed to replace rumor with truth, but we haven’t had enough time on the calendar in order for it all to sink in.

Noticing the impressive gains the Sanders campaign made (with respect to the polls) in the states he lost to Clinton on Tuesday, it is indeed reasonable for Bernie fans to expect that with more time he could have pulled off another series of big upsets.

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This is why continued optimism is oh-so-rational for Berniacs everywhere. 

Suddenly, the calendar starts to become very favorable for our crusade to create A Future We Can Believe In.  There is much more time precious time for us to educate the Democrats who will be voting in the last half of the primary schedule.

Finally we have some of those extra days of time that we really could have used over the past month.  The precious time we need to replace all those false rumors with the abiding truth of who the man is and what makes him so special.

With the extra time we now have to play with, it is more important than ever that Bernie supporters strengthen those variables they still have a lot of control over---1) the extra time in their lives they can use to help advance the campaign, and 2) the financial resources that his campaign needs to fully exploit the extra time that the political gods have given to him and us.

Let us continue to give him the money he needs to subdue the rumor mill!