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Michael Bloomberg’s debate was a disaster – but that’s not enough to rule him out

There was a moment, on Wednesday night, when through sheer incompetence on the debate stage, Michael Bloomberg almost achieved authenticity. The former mayor of New York and late entrant to the Democratic presidential race looked, as always, like someone who an hour before appearing had been reanimated from the cryogenic deep freeze.

The swiftness of Joe Biden's dropped persona was something to behold

He stumbled and bumbled. He rolled his eyes while other candidates were speaking. He looked frankly astonished to have his word challenged and undermined. While Joe Biden grinned like Mickey Rooney and Pete Buttigieg smirked like the captain of his high-school debate team, Bloomberg appeared to unravel in real time. It was extraordinary TV.

The star of the debate was, indisputably, Elizabeth Warren, which was both cheering and depressing. To have a candidate as competent as Warren and know that, when it comes down to it, not only is that competence likely to go unrewarded but actively to be weaponized against her, was a reminder of what Donald Trump’s opponents are up against. As ever during the primaries, it was also easy to forget that these were Democrats talking to other Democrats. Standing beside Warren, Bernie Sanders et al, Bloomberg looked absurdly out of touch.

However, there were moments during the debate, when one wondered if his message – I am wealthy, ergo I know how to generate wealth for you – chimed more with the delusions of the country. This was particularly apparent during the section on women. Warren’s takedown of Bloomberg on the issue of non-disclosure agreements – one of the most memorable moments in debate history – was premised on the assumption that how a male candidate treats women has the power to sway public opinion. Nothing in electoral history supports this. If a man accused of rape sits comfortably in the White House, why do we imagine Bloomberg’s misogyny should make the slightest difference come November. Among Trump supporters, it might even play in his favour.

The calculation, articulated by Sanders, is that the only way to beat Trump is to get out the vote, and clearly Bloomberg won’t do that. The view from centrists is that by occupying the middle ground they may persuade swathes of uneasy Trump supporters to their side. On the strength of the debate alone this seemed doubtful. Watching Amy Klobuchar is a nerve-wracking experience because she’s so nervous herself, and Buttigieg remains a curious fellow. The miserable time he’s had from LGBTQ corners for being a gay man in heterosexual drag is the kind of self-harming impulse that will hand the primary to Biden, but that doesn’t make him any less smarmy and unpalatable.

Related: Debate shows Bernie Sanders could win most votes but be denied nomination

As for Biden, the corny Vegas crowd loved him – but there was a revealing moment there too. Biden’s lounge singer smoothness, the way he starts all his sentences with “let’s get something straight here,” and vests his authority in the statement, “they know me” evaporates under pressure, and there was a moment when, challenged by Warren, he grew suddenly peevish. The swiftness of the dropped persona was something to behold.

I have lived in the US for 12 years and three election cycles, and apart from the inaugurations, not much of those cycles stick in the memory: “You’re likable enough, Hillary”; Trump’s mad pacing on the debate stage. Bloomberg’s implosion on Wednesday, a man blinking in the headlights of his own defeat, will be right up there, but possibly because, for depressing reasons, it may not rule him out of the race.

• Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist