Two days after Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain debated in Tennessee, the Cal Berkeley Democrats and the Berkeley College Republicans held their own debate in Dwinelle Hall last night.

Around 150 people, most of whom belonged to one of the clubs, attended the debate. For more than an hour, two members from each club argued on behalf of their candidates' views on issues ranging from foreign relations with Iran and Russia to domestic health care.

The debate, organized by the Undergraduate Political Science Association, is an annual event that normally features professors. But this year, in light of the upcoming presidential election, the association helped organize the debate for the two student groups in an attempt to educate students about the nuances of the two major party candidates' platforms.

The group members disgareed along party lines when it came to settling on a solution to the current economic crisis.

"Regulation, regulation, regulation," said sophomore Ariel Boone, the internal vice president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats.

"Regulation was the problem that caused this credit crisis," replied Spencer Doyle, the debate director of the Berkeley College Republicans.

Ethan Rarick, director of the Center on Politics in the Institute of Governmental Studies, moderated the debate and allocated 15 minutes for domestic and foreign policy discussion each. Following these sections, the representatives were given five minutes each to question each other.

Freshman Sarah Leadem, who is unaffiliated with either club but is a registered Democrat, said she was impressed that the clubs' debaters had the courage to get up on stage.

"Honestly, having the voices of students represented and hearing how they tailor their arguments to young people and to what matters to college students kind of put it into perspective for me," Leadem said.

However, other audience members were not as impressed, saying that the debaters seemed unprepared.

"Overall, I thought the debaters supported their own candidate, but I kind of was a little bit surprised at the public speaking skills on both sides and also the avoidance of certain questions," said freshman Carla Wood, a member of the Berkeley College Republicans.

Senior Suzanne Ruecker, co-chair of the issues committee of the Undergraduate Political Science Association, said that it is important for students to have a forum on campus in which to discuss current politics during the presidential campaign season.

"We're trying to make it educational, give it a broad enough spectrum so that people can walk away feeling they have a better understanding of the candidates," she said.

Boone said she did not believe the debate changed any of the attendees' minds, but she hoped it inspired students to do their own research.

"It's wonderful seeing so many people excited about this election," she said.

Tags: ELECTIONS 2008, CAL BERKELEY DEMOCRATS, NATIONAL ELECTIONS 2008, BERKELEY COLLEGE REPUBLICANS