WSJ's Daniel Henninger: The Democrats' [2020] Deal With the Devil:

The Biden star is fading amid party angst, economic anxiety, the tom-toms of impeachment and a special counsel for Hunter. Once the post-Biden bidding begins, don’t expect Sens. Sanders and Warren to sign on for another fake moderate. This time, the Democrats’ bargain will be made with them.

Warren's name seems to have been inserted in a late edit. In contrast, the article contained a substantive lead-up referencing Bernie:

Now comes the United Auto Workers strike, which has brought the party back to a reality suppressed by the Clyburn endorsement in 2020. I don’t think Sen. Sanders ever said, “I’ll be back.” But suddenly there he was, on stage with an important progressive admirer, UAW President Shawn Fain.

Meanwhile, RFK Jr. supporter David Talbot reminds us:

On C-SPAN [RFK Jr.] said he was “ten times the threat” to the status quo that Bernie Sanders was.

These perspectives intersect with the following thoughts I had been having:

• What Dem establishment replacement for Biden has a profile offering more promise, than RFK Jr. in primaries or in the general election, to positively motivate a Trump-beating coalition?
• If candidate Newsom is perceived as a younger, woker & greener Biden (without a crazed son who raked in bucks from Ukraine and China), would this be sufficient to recapture many swing or variable turnout voters?
• Would Pritzker's profile do any better?
• Might the Dem establishment soon recognize the value of trying to message a softening of its increasingly anti-democratic approach to Presidential elections?
• If so, then might they perceive a sufficiently 'rehabilitated' former foe in today's worn down (but still mentally alert and articulate) and compliant (notably on Covid/Vax & Ukraine/MIC) Bernie Sanders?

Compared to Trump, and RFK Jr., wouldn't a 2025 President Bernie present only narrow and fragile threats to the powers that be?

• Certainly, President Bernie's attempts to revive movement towards Medicare-for-all would be much less threatening (and much easier to block or neuter in Congress) than RFK Jr.'s broader challenge to Big Pharma dominance of public health institutions.
• Minimum wage increase presumably would also be sought by a President Bernie.
• Perhaps there remain a few other such issues, but Bernie has clearly demonstrated, to the powers that be, he has become a man they could do business with.
• Since somebody needs to muddle through the humiliating military, economic and geo-strategic endgame of the war in Ukraine, wouldn't the Dem establishment prefer Bernie 'responsible' lesser-evil-ism over Trump's heedless brinksmanship or RFK Jr.'s decimation of Pfizer/FDA/CDC etc.?