The losers? Donald Trump and Rand Paul both fared poorly in the opening of the debate, but recovered somewhat as time went on. The Christie-Paul spat helped neither of them. The questions to Trump were appropriately tough; he’s the frontrunner, after all. But the hostile tone of the challenges from the moderators may help him with his preferred presentation of himself as the victim of an establishment cabal. His defenses on issues of corporate bankruptcies and buying political favors won’t play well, nor will his grimaces and over-broad gestures, or the overall impression of blustery, vulnerable pomposity.