Why I think Matthew Yglesias is wrong about Bernie Sanders

Matthew Yglesias has written a fairly well-reasoned piece over at Vox, "Why I think Bernie Sanders will drop out and endorse Hillary Clinton soon":

Bernie Sanders keeps saying that regardless of what happens on Tuesday in California and New Jersey, he'll fight on against Hillary Clinton all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in late July. 

...And this is exactly what I would say if I were Sanders. He's clearly not going to drop out before California, and as long as you're in the race you need to maintain that you're in it to win it. 

But Ted Cruz swore he was going to fight all the way to the convention until the moment he announced he was dropping out. That's just how the game is played. It doesn't mean Sanders is really going to do it. 

On the contrary, once the dust settles he's going to realize that fighting on is only going to cost him support and influence going forward and he'll rapidly move to endorse Clinton.

Here is the problem with that comparison:

First, Ted Cruz would have been almost 46 if he had been elected president in November. He has plenty of elections left in his lifetime. On the other hand, Sanders will be 75 in November. Considering how rare it is for incumbent presidents to lose re-election, that means whoever wins this November will likely win 4 years from now. In turn, this means the next chance for Sanders to challenge for the White House will be in eight years, when he will be 83. This is his last chance, and he knows it.

Second, Sanders is an avowed socialist. This alone is enough to prove he is a little nutty. Socialism is a failed political philosophy, but one which elitists refuse to bury, continually making excuses for socialism's failings: "It hasn't been done correctly", "Look how well it works in tiny European countries the size of Rhode Island", "We haven't thrown enough money at it", etc. My point is, if Sanders can promote a failed philosophy against all reason, why can't he continue campaigning when it is clear he has lost?

The fact Sanders already has over 22k supporters ready to make the Philadelphia Democratic National Convention an ugly thing, tells me that Sanders is serious about taking this as far as he can.

 (hat tip to Ohmymeme for the pic)