I think this piece pretty much hits the nail on the head when it comes to the Dems.
Newt Gingrich: 2 winners and 1 big loser in Democratic presidential debateEvery so often in the ad world, you may get asked the question, why did that bad product fail so fast with all that great marketing? Well, because the marketing really was that great! Bloomberg is fitting this trend; his marketing was so good people were expecting a real leader. Then, when an apologetic intern showed up instead, his fall from grace was that much higher.
It also seems like Bernie's digital brown shirt gang is doing exactly what his ideal Mussolini's did, scarring the entirety of the Dems and the media from asking him hard questions. This may work in the primary, but in the General, with Trump, who is not a coward, will really kill him. You can tell by how unprepared he was from the "3 houses" comment. He has been protected this whole time and when Trump brings out the hammer, he will have not developed any real protection from it.
If I were the Dems, I would be worried shi#less about a Bernie candidacy.