HELPING REPUBLICANS?
David Lublin, a professor in the Department of Government of the American University, said at this point, the split among the Democrats was hurting Clinton not as much as Sanders has been attacking her.
"Over the past few days, he is coming under a lot of criticism for the way his supporters acted in Nevada, also his own criticism of Senator Clinton," he told Xinhua.
Sanders supporters lashed out at party leaders at the chaotic Nevada convention in a spillover of frustration within the rank and file over the party's handling of the primary process.
Top Democratic leaders, including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, have publicly ruminated on the possibility of violence at the July convention as they prepared for a general election battle with Trump.
For Democrats, as long as Sanders remains in the race, they are faced with a delicate balancing act of securing Clinton nominated and avoid alienating passionate backers of Sanders. Last week, the Democratic Party announced that it will give Sanders a prominent say in writing the party platform in a move party leaders hope will soothe the bitter split.
Sanders has said he would not play the spoiler -- by running as an independent or backing a third-party candidate. He told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he would "do everything that I can" to ensure Trump is defeated, but he put the onus on Clinton to persuade his supporters to back her.
Prof. Lublin did not believe Sanders' attacks of Clinton were helping Trump to win. But with the primary in its twilight, "a lot depends on how Senator Sanders wants to act more than what she (Clinton) does," he said.
"It's a long way until November. It's another six months. Essentially, Trump faces a big problem -- he has to win an unprecedented high share of the white votes in order to win the election. There's little sign that he will be able to do that. Seventy percent of women already dislike him," he said.
