About 150 DU Students packed into Davis Auditorium last Friday night to watch the first general election debate between republican and democratic presidential candidates.

The debate was hosted by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. PBS’ Jim Lehrer moderated.

For viewers at DU, it was broadcast from a live stream on the CNN Web site.

As the feed moved from live commentary to the live debate, students clapped and cheered.

Organizers Dillon Doyle and John McMahon say they wanted to have the event not only to inform students, but also to unify and engage the campus.

The audience in Mississippi was instructed to be silent as Senators John McCain and Barack Obama debated the issues, but the DU audience could be found clapping, booing, or cheering throughout the debate.

The format of the discussion also allowed the candidates to ask questions of each other and directly address one another’s policies.

This caused the candidates to interrupt each other or override the moderator’s time limits.

Organizers felt the debate, and their event, were successes. They hadn’t expected so many people.

“To get 150 DU students on a Friday night to hang out and watch a debate,” said McMahon, “is pretty significant.”

Doyle and McMahon both organized the event as Students for Barack Obama.

Obama shirts and buttons were being sold, and a cardboard cutout of the Democrat was on stage in Davis.

The organizers contend, however, that they had tried to make the event bipartisan by inviting the College Republicans, and wished that there had been a more balanced presence at the event.

When asked about this invitation, DU College Republicans Chairman Kevin Poyner said his organization had not known of the event. “We would have liked to participate, but our officers were not aware of the event,” he said.

The partisanship in the room, however, did not impact how the debate carried on during the broadcast.

“It makes me feel good that I go to a college where people care,” said Jobin, “and that they would give up two hours on a Friday night to be informed.”

There are three more official presidential and vice presidential debates in the following weeks.

Doyle reports that all three debates will be broadcast on campus and sponsored by Student Life.

The next viewing party will be hosted Thursday evening at the Pub.

Vice Presidential Candidates, Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) and Senator Joe Biden (D-Deleware), will debate.

Poyner said that the College Republicans are interested in being a part of the event.