“The Democratic primary is following a similar trajectory to what Republicans experienced four years ago, when a long-shot candidate with a devoted base gained momentum while his party’s establishment politicians squabbled over who was best suited to take him on,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said former Jeb Bush aide Matt Gorman: “Close your eyes: There’s a septuagenarian presidential candidate with a pretty indestructible level of support who is leading in several early states—who am I talking about? Much like Trump, the press and Beltway audiences don’t take seriously his ability to win the nomination and keep waiting breathlessly for that inevitable collapse, and neither is happening any time soon.”

Charlie Sykes: “Say what you will, but the Sweet Meteor of Death finally arrived last night. But, apparently, it was aimed at Mike Bloomberg.”

“Sure, he still has $60 billion to fix the mess, but five minutes into the debate, Bloomberg had been transformed from possible centrist savior to an extra in the Night of the Living Dead.”

“It was that kind of night. a six way clusterfuck with moderates attacking moderates, geriatrics talking about their stents, Pete on Amy, Amy on Pete, and Liz Warren lashing out at just everyone. That was an odd choice for Warren, who needs to win the progressive lane against Bernie Sanders, but seemed to devote most of her considerable energy to attacking the late Mayor Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg in no particular order.”

“At a moment when Democrats needed to focus on derailing the prospect of a Trump-Sanders death march they spent the night knifing one another with various degrees of relish. It was a murder-suicide worthy of an Agatha Christie novel. The one where everyone ends up dead.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign announced they raised $2.8 million after last night’s debate.

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign announced he raised $2.7 million.

“Mike Bloomberg picked up three new congressional endorsements on the heels of his rocky debate performance, underscoring his staying power in the Democratic primary race despite an onslaught of attacks from opponents,” the AP reports.

“Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Nita Lowey of New York and Pete Aguilar of California all endorsed Bloomberg Thursday, bringing his total number of congressional endorsements to 15, behind only Joe Biden, who has more than three times that amount.”

“None of them accuse me of doing anything other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told. And let me just — there’s agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet. And that’s up to them. They signed those agreements and we’ll live with it.”

— Mike Bloomberg, refusing to answer Elizabeth Warren’s question on how many non-disclosure agreements he signed with women at his company.

The Fix: “You wouldn’t have thought from watching the debate that Sanders was the one threatening to open up a potentially insurmountable delegate lead in the weeks ahead. Instead, the candidates focused mostly on Bloomberg and arguably landed tougher attacks on each other than on Sanders.”

“Sanders did have to defend himself on some sticky subjects, including his refusal to provide more medical disclosure after a heart attack he suffered last year. He was also forced to respond to the Culinary Workers Union’s criticism of him for wanting to supplant their private health insurance with Medicare-for-all. But there was pretty much nothing to suggest Sanders’s momentum in this race would change.”

New York Times: “Some rivals hit him… But there was no singular moment that would seem to upend his current positive trajectory, both in Nevada and nationally. And even if Mr. Sanders did not deliver his most forceful performance, that might be enough.”

Mike Allen: “The debate underscored the Bloomberg’s campaign biggest fear: It’s hard to hide to his prickly demeanor. Bloomberg had all the time, practice and forewarning money could buy — and still struggled mightily on the public stage.”

“But it’d be foolish to assume blanket ads can’t undo the damage.”

Said Elizabeth Warren after the debate: “I have no doubt that he is about to drop, tonight, another hundred million dollars on his campaign … in order to try to erase America’s memory of what happened on that debate stage.”

Politico: “He was rusty. He was testy. He was out of touch. And, for a candidate often shielded by the scripted one-liners of killer campaign advisers, he was on his own — unable to hide his peevish demeanor and unable to portray himself, as his campaign has tried to do, as the clear choice to stop Bernie Sanders and beat Donald Trump.”

Axios: “The biggest beneficiary of Bloomberg’s presence was Warren, who found the foil she desperately needed after disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. She faced questions after the New Hampshire debate about why she didn’t get more speaking time, and it was clear she wasn’t going to let that happen again.”

“With little to lose, Warren targeted nearly every candidate on health care, calling Buttigieg’s plan ‘a slogan that was thought out by his consultants,’ Klobuchar’s plan ‘a Post-it Note — insert plan here,’ and jabbing Sanders for ‘relentlessly attacking everyone’ who questions his version of Medicare for All.”

“A Warren aide tweeted toward the end of the debate that the campaign raised $425,000 in 30 minutes. If this debate doesn’t boost her polling numbers, it’s unlikely any debate will.”

New York Times: “It was the kind of aggressive performance that allies and even some of her campaign advisers had been hoping for, even if it marked a sharp shift from her recent strategy of appearing as an above-the-fray candidate who could unite Democrats.”

Politico: “Amy Klobuchar made sure there would be no post-debate handshake with Pete Buttigieg. After a series of cutting exchanges during Wednesday’s presidential debate, Klobuchar cut around Buttigieg without a glance in his direction as they stepped away from their neighboring podiums following Wednesday’s Democratic showdown.”

“The hostility building between the two Midwestern Democrats burst dramatically into the open in Nevada, as they clashed repeatedly on the debate stage and tried to slash the momentum out of each other’s campaigns. Klobuchar and Buttigieg have fought before over their experience and their political records in past debates — but the feud took a deeply personal turn.”

New York Times: “Forgive us for wondering on Wednesday night if Ms. Klobuchar and Mr. Buttigieg wanted to physically harm each other onstage at times.”