Could Bernie Sanders put Mitt Romney in the White House? I haven’t gotten my 2012 and 2016 wires crossed; I have a theory that’s slightly more realistic than a Donald Trump presidency seemed a year ago.

As it stands now, it seems almost inconceivable that Sanders could become the Democratic nominee — unless the FBI indicts Hillary Clinton before the convention, or she reveals herself to be some sort of animatronic device sent from the future to bore us to death (which would make her ineligible under the “natural born” clause of the Constitution). The former seems about as plausible as the latter, given that Trump’s nomination makes it even less likely the Feds will risk interfering with the election.

But by staying in the race, Sanders is clearly hurting Clinton. A raft of new polling has Trump either tied or beating Clinton. If Sanders got out and supported Clinton, many of the “Never Hillary” liberals would come home to the Democrats, just as many anti-Trump conservatives have made peace with the presumptive nominee. The polling suggests that a unified Democratic party would give Clinton a daunting lead over Trump.

And yet Bernie just won’t go. Why?

Part of the answer is personal: He’s simply having the time of his life. This is a man who was kicked out of a hippie commune in 1971 for talking about politics too much when people were trying to work. The young socialist liked chatting about revolutionary labor more than actually laboring for the revolution.

After spending decades as a gadfly on the periphery of national politics, suddenly he’s the belle of the ball. Millions of people are hanging on his every word rather than trying to escape the conversation. That has to be a heady thing for someone so in love with his own voice. It’s like he spent all his life hanging around minor-league baseball and, in his golden years, somehow become a sensation in the majors. Why quit? To preserve his viability to run when he’s 78 or 84?