"The Bredesen Plan"

“Invite the candidates to come and talk if they want, and then literally call the roll,” he explained. “We should not go through the summer and have a divided and exhausted Democratic Party. The inescapable conclusion is: OK, you’ve got to find some way to bookend and bring it to closure earlier. How do you do that? Do it in June rather than August."

The governor said he decided to push the plan because of what he called a “sea change” in opinion among Democrat elites. What once appeared to be a once-in-a-generation blessing – having two strong candidates with significant appeal among Democrats – seems more like a burden now, as the race drags on toward April and May contests that are unlikely to offer any more clarity than the muddled results of the last three months.

“Ninety days ago, everybody was talking in warm terms about both the candidates: ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ ‘Whoever’s president is going to be great,’ ” the governor said. “It has gotten vastly more polarized now, and that really concerns me.”

To Bredesen, an even-keeled political pragmatist, superdelegates are certain to ultimately decide the nominee, so it makes no sense for them do later rather than sooner.