Benjy Sarlin and Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM watched last night’s GOP debate in Arizona so we didn’t have to and came up with the ways that Rick Santorum blew it.

On Wednesday in Arizona, Rick Santorum needed to bring his A game to the debate to keep his momentum into the big Feb. 28 primaries in that state and Michigan. He didn’t do it. Instead, he left a trail of moments that will likely haunt him in the press, in his rivals’ speeches and in attack ads.

My record is intact: I haven’t watched any of the 1,493,513 previous clown shows in live time because I have better things to do than play with my home lobotomy kit. Granted, these debates have served to winnow the field — Rick Perry was the leader and savior of the party until he opened his mouth on stage and frogs jumped out, and Newt Gingrich’s meteoric rise and subsequent cratering can be tagged to his self-centered bombast, which didn’t let up last night, apparently. So I suppose they served a useful purpose in that regard: they got rid of some of the worst of the candidates.

But look at what they have left us. Oy. And you can bet that they’re happy at the White House and the Obama campaign headquarters.