The presidential candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has gone about as far as it can. For all his talk about revolution, Sanders has failed to dislodge front-runner Hillary Clinton from the dominant position she's held in the Democratic campaign pretty much from the moment she declared her candidacy.

The conversation among his supporters now turns to whether he should stop attacking Clinton and, for the sake of party unity, rally behind her in the same way she supported Barack Obama after ceding the Democratic race to him in 2008. It's actually the wrong conversation.

Whether Sanders supports Clinton is not going to make or break her campaign. All indications are that she will face billionaire GOP front-runner Donald Trump in the general election, and there should be no question where Sanders supporters should land on that ballot question.

Sanders worked hard to pull together a viable campaign. He has surprised the nation with his tenacity and magnetism. Sanders, however, has failed to convince this newspaper that his ideas for a political revolution in America are the right ones. And given the current makeup of Congress, they're clearly not the most workable ones.

But the Sanders juggernaut must not be ignored. He has mobilized and inspired a disaffected sector of the American electorate that otherwise might have opted to sit this election out on the sidelines. This energized group, consisting largely of younger voters, represents a potentially powerful constituency with the power to sway the balance in Congress. Use it, don't lose it.

Sanders and his supporters have been so focused on the White House, they've failed to recognize that Capitol Hill is where the real change must happen. For all the bold ideas that Sanders — and Trump, too — have offered, they really couldn't accomplish much if Congress refused to go along.

A major reason this newspaper endorsed Clinton over Sanders in the March 15 Missouri and Illinois primaries was that Sanders lacked what might be called "governability." The wall of opposition that a declared socialist would have faced in Congress would cripple his presidency. If Congress remains solidly Republican, Clinton will have trouble, too. But at least she'd have a shot.

If Sanders wants a revolution, he and his supporters should look down-ticket. Identify like-minded Senate and House candidates and get to work. Sanders might not win, but his ideas could.

Of course, that takes a lot of work and planning. It requires a level of focus that could test the patience of supporters whose eyes have been on the big prize. Some are still trying to keep that dream alive, even though Sanders is not going to win.

Sanders supporters would be making a huge mistake by assuming that the presidency is the only race worth fighting for.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH

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