And that's it, the debate is over. Now there will be two more days of desperate campaigning before the Nevada caucuses, the results of which we'll bring you on Sunday, Australian time.
If you don't feel like reading a gazillion posts below this one, here are the main points from today's rhetorical fisticuffs, as I saw them:
+ In his first appearance on a debate stage, billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg quite simply imploded. Everyone ganged up on him, but Elizabeth Warren struck the killing blow, repeatedly asking whether Mr Bloomberg would release women from the nondisclosure agreements they had signed with his company over his allegedly sexist behaviour. He refused. It was cringeworthy;
+ Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar spent much of the debate fighting with each other, and it's not clear that either benefited from the exchanges. He looked a little smarmy. She lost her cool. Not a great evening for these two;
+ Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner for the nomination, repeated his usual talking points very competently and probably wasn't hurt at all, batting away questions about the unpopularity of socialism in the American electorate;
+ Joe Biden had perhaps his strongest debate of the primaries so far, particularly when he went forcefully after Mr Bloomberg. That admittedly isn't saying much. But he may have done enough to revive a campaign that was starting to seem terminal;
+ And Ms Warren dominated the stage more than anyone else, launching broadsides against pretty much everyone and pitching herself as the candidate who could deliver a more thought-through version of progressivism than Mr Sanders.
Picture: One of several brutal moments between Ms Warren and Mr Bloomberg.
