Even assuming the draw was fixed, I doubt this would even be possible. This early in the process the only one who can knock off Bernie is Bernie himself, if he has a really poor performance. My guess is that Warren probably won’t even mention Bernie, choosing instead to explain her platform to the American people.
If Warren remains strong, then I think Bernie gradually fades out of the picture.
I know you’re being hyperbolic, but even fake candidate Mike Gravel had more than 11 supporters.
Just because you think something is a “stupid rule” doesn’t mean breaking the rule is kosher. (Oy.) Especially when they stated the rule, published it, and then broke it. Not for nothing did Donna Brazile later try to apologize for some of that nonsense & at least appear to repudiate it.
I…no, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Or rather, he’s so big & his base are so attached to his particular message that even if he fades, he’ll still be very visible next summer.
There’s only room enough for one of them, IMO. At some point, you have to win a contest; you can’t just finish 2nd or 3rd again and again.
At the moment, Bernie is still arguing the second strongest candidate, but he’s a distant second behind Biden, and the most upward movement in recent weeks has come from Warren and Buttigieg.
Suffice it to say, we will know more once the post-debate polls start coming in
And a substantial number who were motivated, at least in part, by misogyny towards Clinton will be similarly motivated towards Warren. But he’s yesterday’s news, yes - infatuation has an expiration date.
Ultimately, of course there’s only room for one of them. There’s only room for one of all of the dozens of Democratic candidates, because there’s only going to be one Democratic nominee.
This. I hardly think it would constitute a thumb on the scales for the DNC to have put the top 5-8 (Biden, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, Harris, and maybe Klobuchar, Booker, and Beto) in the main debate, and put the rest in a ‘kiddie table’ debate. And one or two participants in the ‘kiddie table’ debate would have stood out from the crowd, and gotten enough support to be included at the grownup table in the next round.
Seconded, and I like your imagery. 
highest poll people are in the middle of the stage
Top-polling candidates will be center-stage at first Democratic debates - POLITICO
sort of like Olympic swimming where the fastest guys/gals are in the middle of the pool
Had a good interview with Bullock on the PRE politics podcast recently. Wish he had made the debate stage, and it was frustrating to find that he missed by either one polled voter in or a weighting issue depending on how you see it.
Personally, I think there should have been a snake draft by the candidates. Biden gets first pick of the 18 candidates, then Sanders gets two and three, Joe gets four and five, etc. I like seeing how the candidates want the matchups to shake out. (Of course, I want playoff teams in sports to pick their matchups too.)