Students packed into the Nugget Grill and Pub Monday night between classes and midterms to watch President Obama and Mitt Romney battle it out for the third and final time on national television.
Sandy Woodruff, a junior communications major, said that she originally planned to go home until she heard the energy inside of the Nugget.
“I was stopped in my tracks by the voices of the candidates, so I decided to grab a beer and become educated about this stuff,” Woodruff said.
Primarily, the sound of the television had to battle with the dull roar of student conversation. However, soon after the debate intensified, a hush swept over the eatery, only to be interrupted by bursts of laughter or applause as the candidates bantered back and forth.
This debate focused on foreign policy, though the candidates repeatedly drifted back to quarreling about their own domestic policies, such as health care, education and taxes.
Students laughed over beers and baskets of fries as the candidates interrupted each other and scrambled for the last word before their two minutes were up.
Many students said they were convinced by Obama’s calm demeanor and fluid speech as he continued to refute Romney. However, others were not won over by the president, who they said has made little change over the past four years.
Sophomore business finance major Tyler Scanlan said he plans to vote for Romney.
“I think that what Obama promised didn’t come through,” he said.
Despite the fact that he had been working behind the register, Scanlan made sure to watch the entire debate.
“Romney clearly won the first [debate], Obama won the second,” he said. “[But] this one was pretty close.”
Romney also has the vote of Audra Oul, a junior political science major.
“I just hope that whoever is president will make it better than before,” Oul said. “I’d really like to see what Romney will do.”
Several students, including Woodruff, said they noticed that Romney weakened drastically by the end of the debate.
Manuel Torres, a transfer student and junior Spanish major, said he also saw flaws in Romney’s performance.
“[Obama] was stronger,” Torres said. “Romney just kept repeating himself. It seemed like he feels superior to the president.”
Early in the evening, Romney prophesized of the day “when [he is] president,” but Woodruff said that the GOP candidate’s ego had shrunk noticeably by the end of the debate.
“When Romney went to defend himself, you could see him sweating,” Woodruff said.