I really don't think so. Trump was the one with the 'message' that (right or wrong) resonated most there. Yes Sanders beat Clinton in the primaries in 2 of those states, but again in a general election, which is a different kind of animal, the GOP was just loaded with dirt on Sanders, and some of that dirt would have had a lot of influence in those states.
Plus Sanders might have lost a state or two that Clinton won.
A lot of blue-collar voters who would have voted for Bernie (or voted for him in the primaries) voted for Trump in the general election. And a lot of young voters would have voted fgor Bernie (or voted for him in the primaries) but refused to choose between Hillary and Trump.
GOP would have had dirt on Sanders. Probably but not as much and not as damaging as what they had for Hillary. For 4 years they prepared to fight Hillary, having to face Sanders was not in their plans.
Also, apart rom calling him a commie, would would they have had ? His age, fair enough. But you can't call him a crook, a sell-out for the banks or the corporations, you can claim hes not routing for the little guys, for the people, you can't claim he's a lier (his voting record speaks for him on that issue). Blaming him for being a jew ? I'm not very sure it would have caught and it could have end alienate the jew community. And create a diplomatic incident with Israel.
I'm not even sure the "commie" thing would have caught that much. I think a lot of people would are struggling to make end meet don't really bother if the medias labeled sdome guy a commie, a ring-winger, a populist or whatever, as long as they think he can offer them a better life, they'll vote for him.
