It was the little things and big things that ensured that Bernie wasn't going to win. Going up against a brand name like Clinton, it appears that the news media is surprised he did as well as he did.
I've heard the point that there are people with voter's regret who would have voted for him if they had heard about him and his message, especially in the earlier state primaries. And Sanders didn't do well enough to reach out to minorities. Makes me wonder what could have been.
And yes, I do see closed primaries as undemocratic, especially when us independents are supposed to vote on the same candidates that was had no input in choosing. I see voting as a form of free speech, a way of saying "I want this candidate to go forward to the next process", and when billionaires can spend as much money as they please on their candidates of choice as a form of free speech, it seems even insulting that I wasn't allowed to vote for Sanders. If I had known that I had to register as a Democrat, I would have, but I didn't, and not everyone knows that registering as an Independent means you can get turned away or loose your right to vote for a presidential hopeful. Every vote can make a difference, and when you have problems like New York and Arizona, it skews the results, and leaves the legitimacy of the results in question, something I don't think anyone has.
To be fair, he does have issues. Free college would probably be unrealistic. He might be able to lower tuition and address the debt, but that is probably about it. One must not overextend oneself, and not be able to deliver. Better to lowball be somewhat conservative in your promises, and then surprise everyone with better than you promised, IMO. And the right people in congress would need to be voted in and out, because many in congress would not want anything to do with any policies that could cause annoyance for those holding their checks (campaign finance reform, if not limited to merely the Presidential level, which it shouldn't, taxing Wall Street, raising the minimum wage; Wall Street, the big banks, and Corporate America would be fighting tooth and nail to prevent such policies from ever seeing action).
Quite frankly, if so many of the Republican candidates weren't so terrible, Trump might not be where he is. The fact that his opponents dropped out so much earlier than before the final voting is a testament to how disliked establishment Republican have become. Then again, Hillary and Trump are some of the most disliked major candidates in history, so that's saying something.
Oh, and love your sig BTW! And no worries about the rant. I do that too you know.