An important message:
Seventy-one percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents hold a favorable view of Clinton, with 24 percent viewing her negatively. Sanders holds a similar favorability rating, with 73 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners rating him positively, and slightly lower unfavorables, with 18 percent rating him negatively. (Among just Democrats, Clinton’s favorability rating is 76 percent, with Sanders at 71 percent.)
And looking forward, only 20 percent want Hillary to run for president again, while only 30 percent would like to see Bernie run again. Similarly, 47 percent want to see Hillary remain active in politics, while 46 want Bernie to remain active but in other areas. And 23 percent would like Hillary to retire, while 12 percent would like Bernie to retire.
In other words, only a small minority wants either to run again or retire, while a large plurality wants them both to remain active. And given that the wording of the poll separated "run again" from "remain active,” large majorities want both to remain active, overall. It’s likely there would be similar numbers for Joe Biden, but they didn’t bother to poll voters about him.
The bottom line is that Democrats and Democratic-leaners appreciate our party elders and want them to continue contributing. But when looking ahead to 2020, Democrats and Democratic-leaners want new presidential candidates. When looking ahead, we need to focus on the 2018 midterm elections—but we also need to focus on our deep bench of established or rising stars.