"Neither Elizabeth Warren nor Bernie Sanders will benefit from this week’s kerfuffle. But, that doesn’t mean that no one will."

Actually, it now looks like Sanders did benefit and Warren, well, she was already sinking in the polls, but this certainly didn't help. It appears the surge for Bernie is at the expense of Warren. She shot herself in the foot.

If you correctly identify Warren's public accusation about the Sanders phone-bank script, asserting that Sanders was sexist, and then accusing him of calling her a liar on national TV, as a smear, then you understand that Sanders—and his supporters—needed to mount a defense. The idea that they should back down is naive.

However, it's perfectly possible to express distaste that Warren (and CNN) tried to smear Bernie without denigrating Warren's supporters. It's not as if it's their fault! And probably, apparently, many of them dislike what she did and are abandoning her. If they change allegiance to Sanders, great. Welcome.