Nothing in Bloomberg’s wobbly debut suggested that an orthodox, mix-it-up-with-average-voters campaign in early, small states ever could have worked. His big-spending, glide-over-the-early-BS approach is the only one that likely could work for him.

Not surprisingly, this galls competitors. In particular, Bloomberg’s arrival—as well as the imminence of Super Tuesday on March 3 and its outsized consequences—seemed to summon something extra from former front-runner Elizabeth Warren. It was as if she said to herself, I am either going to come back strong or go down swinging with arguments that I genuinely believe.

Her performance was crisp and articulate, aggressive, often cutting, not just toward Bloomberg but at different junctures to every other rival.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the person who is leading in polls for this week’s Nevada caucus, as well as some national polls, was only occasionally at the center of the evening’s drama. This was likely fine with him. He made familiar arguments in a familiar style, and nothing seemed likely to change the dynamic going into the evening: The Democratic contest likely has room for Sanders and one principal competitor, and the sprint now is to see who that competitor will be.

There was an arresting moment when Sanders bristled at Bloomberg’s assertion that Sanders’ policies have already been tried and found wanting: “It was called communism and it just didn’t work.” Sanders said, “That’s a cheap shot,” and said what he stands for is democratic socialism, not communism.

The primary attraction for the debate, hosted by NBC News, was a chance for people to see Bloomberg naked—no longer on TV commercials, dressed in the heroic garb of tycoon-turned-Cincinnatus ready to lay down his financial data terminal and pick up his sword against President Donald Trump.

By conventional political standards, the exposure was highly unflattering. He was put sharply on the defensive by those who said his recent apologies for his trademark “stop and frisk” policy as New York mayor came too late and glided over the true damage from their racially discriminatory impact. They scoffed at his refusal to say he would release women who worked at his media company from nondisclosure agreements they signed when settling sexual harassment and employment discrimination lawsuits against the firm. Bloomberg said the full records would show he personally had done nothing wrong “other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told.”

On purely stylistic grounds, he was sometimes clear and precise—especially when speaking of his efforts to rally the country to combat climate change—but other times wandering and even inarticulate. He was prideful in ways not calculated to impress populist-minded Democrats (“Yes, I worked very hard for it,” when asked if it is fair that anyone has as many billions as he does). He was evasive on how long it will take until he releases his income taxes, a universal precedent in presidential politics until Trump broke it four years ago. (“Fortunately I make a lot of money….I can’t go to TurboTax.”) When challenged, he was dismissive in ways that, rather than projecting confidence, underscored defensiveness. In a clip that has gone viral, he was captured rolling his eyes at Warren when she was railing against his treatment of women.

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