On his radio show yesterday, Mark Levin rightfully blasted the media for spinning the Iowa caucuses. They are, he explained, pretending that Marco Rubio was the winner of the night because he got a larger share of the vote than projected.

He did. But that does not make him a winner, Levin said: Rubio finished third… which is exactly where the polls had him. Yes, he received more voters, but he placed as expected.

As Levin pointed out yesterday, the real winner of the Iowa caucuses was Ted Cruz. Not only did he perform better than anticipated by finishing first rather than second, and not only did he get 4% more than projected in the RCP average, he also took on the ethanol lobby, the MSM, and the establishment… and he walked away with more voters than any Republican candidate in Iowa’s history.

That’s the real story here, not that the establishment favorite — who was supported by establishment politicians, whose Super PACs relentlessly went after Cruz, who was pushed continuously by the media — ended up finishing third, but with a higher percentage than expected.