Arizona held its first (and only) senatorial debate of the election season on Thursday between Republican Blake Masters, Democrat Mark Kelly, and some libertarian dude that we’ll get to momentarily. RedState offered some initial live coverage on Thursday, and now the clips are making the rounds.

Unfortunately for Kelly, he probably should have agreed to a few more debates, because if this is the performance he’s going to leave hanging out there for voters, it’s a bad one. I know it’s cliche to suggest that one side decimated the other side, but Masters delivered a series of money lines that will now be going viral over the next few days, and that’s really what a debate is about these days. Few people watch them live, but the narratives that get exposed to a much larger audience in the aftermath can linger.

Obviously, a major issue in Arizona is the border crisis given its cities suffer immensely under the weight of Joe Biden’s failed policies. Kelly attempted to shun the White House when questioned, suggesting that the president’s ideas are “dumb” and that he’s been a real warrior on the border. Blake then delivered a jaw rattler of a counter-punch.

Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly: "I've been focused on the border since day one."@bgmasters: "We have a wide open southern border, so if that's the best you can do, I respectfully request you resign." 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lKxpaL9ZGY

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2022

Kelly wants to have it both ways, which is typical for Democrats. On the one hand, he votes in lockstep with Biden’s agenda. On the other hand, he wants to pretend he’s a maverick who goes against his own party. In reality, all of Kelly’s political counters are meaningless fluff. Oh, he’s got a bill that he can’t even get to a floor vote and that almost none of his Democrat colleagues support? Would he like a cookie?

Besides, Kelly had a chance to stand up and vote to add additional border patrol agents as an amendment to the falsely-named Inflation Reduction Act. He voted no, and Masters was ready to hit him with that choice.

Republican @bgmasters: "Did you or did you not vote to reject 18,000 more Border Patrol agents in the Inflation Reduction Act passage?"

Democrat Mark Kelly: "You know, we – there are votes that happen in D.C. …" pic.twitter.com/8a9zgtMmTS

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2022

The entire segment on illegal immigration was just a disaster area for Kelly. Masters also pointed out that the Arizona Democrat voted for the inflation-inducing American Rescue Plan, which sent stimulus checks to illegal immigrants and felons in prison, with the most infamous example being the Boston Bomber.

.@bgmasters: "Mark Kelly voted to send stimulus checks to illegal aliens. He voted to send stimulus checks to — get this — violent felons sitting in jail.

"Is that a good use of taxpayer money? I don't think so." pic.twitter.com/kgY8S2zLWf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2022

The problem for Kelly is that as much as he wants to localize his re-election bid, he is tied at the hip to the party he is part of and has openly enabled the last several years. Masters put a bow on that point with this next response.

.@bgmasters: "For the past two years under Joe Biden and Mark Kelly, we've been going in the wrong direction. Everybody knows it." pic.twitter.com/PQGNxVgEss

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2022

Everyone does know it, which is why Arizona consistently gives Biden low approval ratings. Kelly’s personal backstory helps him in providing a contrast, but at the end of the day, he’s a Democrat who votes with Democrats. The failures of the nation under the Biden administration are Kelly’s own failures. Incumbency offers many benefits, but it also means having to own the results of one’s tenure.

Here’s a final clip between Masters and Kelly showing that the latter didn’t do his research before whiffing on another attempted rhetorical punch.

This has got to be the highlight of the debate for me @bgmasters pic.twitter.com/atvsyvkovN

— Jenna Rayne (@thejennarayne_) October 7, 2022

Regardless, if you don’t believe your eyes and ears above about how well Masters did, here’s Kelly telling us he lost the debate without telling us.

It says a lot about Blake Masters that he’s the only one on this stage who never wore a uniform for our country, and yet he thinks he knows better than our military on how to fight wars.

— Captain Mark Kelly (@CaptMarkKelly) October 7, 2022

Kelly falling back on the “I was in the military” trope to suggest an American citizen shouldn’t be able to have an opinion about the nation’s disastrous foreign policy over the last three decades is the surest sign possible that the Democrat knows he got clocked. He’s flailing, looking to fall back on irrelevancy to bolster his re-election bid. It’s not a good look.

Lastly, I promised you Libertarian weirdness, and it was present at the debate. Here’s their candidate saying the age of consent for minors should be put up for a vote.

Libertarian Party candidate Mark Victor in Arizona’s US Senate debate tonight: “What should the age of consent be? This is something that reasonable minds disagree on. That should be up for a vote.”

😐 pic.twitter.com/QBObIKNLk2

— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) October 7, 2022

I’m begging Libertarians to find other issues to talk about than legalizing sex with children and weed. I promise, there’s more to talk about out there than just those two things, you weirdos.