The Bloomberg campaign is an experiment in whether money can buy the Presidency. His colossal ad spending got him to the mid-teens in national polls, and the 20s in some states. He bought his way into a debate. But when it became clear on the debate stage that he wasn't at all the kind of candidate that Democrats wanted, his billions couldn't buy him out of that.
That's how it should be. Billionaires can now see that if they try to buy the Democratic nomination and they're out of step with party values, they'll get wrecked by someone like Warren on the debate stage. If you want to stop Trump, you can donate lots of money and Democrats will appreciate that. But crude attempts to buy yourself the Presidency for a few billion dollars will just result in humiliation.
Everybody else did fine. Pete, Amy, and Joe don't have Bloomberg towering over them anymore. As long as they're tangled up with each other, Bernie has his path to victory.
Warren rightly benefits most of all. It was a great fundraising night, she's all over the news highlights, and her campaign has new life. The effect on Nevada will be muffled because early voting means that many ballots were cast before the debate, and she'll need a lot more than this to win. But whatever happens, her debate performance did a great deal to prevent obscene wealth from taking over her party and her country.
