Story highlights Tara Setmayer: Ted Cruz may have won in Iowa, but all eyes are on Marco Rubio, whose third place win exceeded expectations

She says how a candidate places in Iowa can have a big effect on gaining momentum and money; right now, all eyes are on Rubio

Tara Setmayer is former communications director for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, and a CNN political commentator. Follow her on Twitter @tarasetmayer.

(CNN) To be sure, Sen. Ted Cruz accomplished something no other GOP candidate this year has been able to do. He made Donald Trump a loser. No amount of humility or grace will change the fact The Donald was handed his first "L" at the hands of that "Canadian" nobody likes. And it wasn't even close.

Yet, even as Cruz might like to revel in this history-making night in Iowa, the storyline has shifted away from him to the emergence of Marco Rubio as a viable alternative in the GOP race. Not only did Trump lose to Cruz, he almost lost to Rubio in a dramatic, last-minute surge that propelled Rubio to within 1 percentage point of second place.

This was a spectacular feat considering Rubio was projected to be a distant third by the venerable Des Moines Register poll that had forecast he'd garner only 15%.

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Rubio's final tally came in at 23%, blowing the doors off expectations, which at this stage of the campaign can be more valuable than actually winning. Entrance polls showed the notoriously fickle last-minute undecided voters broke heavily for Rubio. It's fair to say that most political observers grossly underestimated Rubio, mistakenly hyping up the two-man race scenario between Trump and Cruz. Not anymore.

It appears that voters do appreciate a candidate having a command of the issues, the ability to articulate a plan to protect the United States and defeat with specificity, rather than bluster and braggadocio. Actually showing up for a debate four days before voting in that state apparently matters, too.

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