The loser? It’s still unclear why Tom Steyer is running for president, after jumping in the race late.

Otterbein: Buttgieg probably had the worst night: He was forced to defend his high-dollar donors on the debate stage. While he technically defended himself ably — and accused Warren of hypocrisy on the issue — I don’t think that’s a good place for him to be. Now millions of viewers know about his fundraiser in the “wine cave” and that he effectively defended it.

I think the conventional wisdom that Klobuchar had the best night is right. Sanders and Biden had decent nights as well, benefiting in part from Warren and Buttigieg fighting.

What was the most surprising moment?

Otterbein: Sanders made the most aggressive case yet against Biden on a debate stage this year. He took him to task for his wealthy donors, a “status-quo” health care plan and voting for the Iraq War. It was especially interesting that he purposefully brought Biden into a debate between Warren and Buttigieg about campaign finance: In doing so, he took on someone who was not as effective at defending himself as Buttigieg.

The reason: Sanders’ campaign believes that he has the most to gain from Biden falling. Another surprising moment: The moderate Klobuchar defending Warren and Sanders for getting stuff done in the Senate was another surprise — but the twist, of course, is that she largely did it as a way to bash Buttigieg.

Korecki: The “wine cave” pile-on aimed at Buttigieg was not only the most surprising (when Warren first brought it up) but it was by far the most entertaining. “The mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900 a bottle wine. Think about who comes to that. He had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open door, but this one was closed-door.” Warren said to Buttigieg.

Then Klobuchar jumped in with some Minnesota-adjacent commentary, touting her visit to the Wind Cave in South Dakota.

Siders: I probably shouldn’t have been, but I was surprised by how often candidates were still mentioning their websites and otherwise offering basic resume material. And I think that’s significant: We’re now in December, less than two months before the Iowa caucuses, and candidates still see an opening with voters who have not been watching months of debates. That suggests there’s a lot of room for the race to change before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.

Cadelago: Sanders defended his health care plan and slapped down Biden over his Iraq War vote. He also flashed his sense of humor. But Sanders had a cringey moment when he was asked about former President Barack Obama’s recent remarks that women make better leaders. After being reminded that he was the oldest candidate on stage, Sanders interjected: “And I'm white as well!”

Did we learn something new about the candidates?

Cadelago: Amy Klobuchar has more fight left. Over and over, she threw herself into the action. “I don't think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the United States,” she said when Pete Buttigieg said he was going to respond to her allegedly denigrating his experience, but claimed he held off in the moment because “we have bigger fish to fry.”

Korecki: We learned that Warren sees Buttigieg as a threat, given that she carried onto the debate stage their ongoing feud over fundraising purity. Warren had dared Buttigieg to release his bundlers and clients from McKinsey, he had done both. But she hit him on his private fundraisers anyway Thursday night.