From a commenter:
Cruz won by not losing big. I may not have these numbers exactly right but I think I am in the right ball park. Cruz spent like $500,000 on commercials in NH to come in third while Bush spent like $37,000,000 to come in fourth. Kasich put all his eggs into NH to come in second far behind Trump and not much ahead of Cruz. If you don’t think that is a win for Cruz, you lack imagination. The real test will be South Carolina where Cruz has been making an effort.
And the SEC primaries where he will most likely gain more delegates than anyone else.
From another commenter:
Psst. For a bonafide Iowa caucus winner, 12% in New Hampshire is far from a win. (Unless defeating Jeb by 1% qualifies as a consolation prize.)
You know like that essay you had to write in elementary school, "if wishing could make it so."
The paper you turned in started out, "suppose you lost an election but you imagined you won - that makes you the winner doesn't it?"
The big question is how does Trump win? He lost 70% of the votes. It is hard to see his popularity getting to 50%. Instead, the ‘no to Trump’ sector will consolidate.