UW students, faculty and staff gathered in Odegaard Undergraduate Library last night to view the final presidential debate. The debate watch was the last in a series sponsored by the UW Libraries and the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG).

The debate between Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. was held at Hofstra University and was moderated by Bob Schieffer, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent and host of Face the Nation. The two presidential candidates discussed their views on economic and domestic policy, with topics ranging from health care to nominations of potential Supreme Court justices.

“I think McCain took the defensive position most of the time,” said sophomore Madeline Hartman. “I wouldn’t have any confidence in him as someone who could turn the economy around.”

Katie Gray, a UW student who attended the event, agreed and preferred how Obama handled the debate.

“I think it was very entertaining,” Gray said. “I don’t think either candidate did a good job of answering the questions, but I think Obama did a great job of spelling out his policies in language everyone could understand.”

However, there were also supporters of McCain’s candidacy in the audience as well.

“I’m moderate, although I think Palin would do an excellent job,” said junior Nichole Anne Swalko.

Many students attending were also generally unsatisfied with either of the candidates’ responses and felt that each focused too strongly on attacking the other candidate.

“I wish they would address the questions instead of battling with each other,” Swalko said.

This could also be seen in a post-debate discussion, moderated by WashPIRG member Tiffany McGuyer, which discussed audience members’ reactions to the candidates, the campaigns and the election. Several students, including freshman Sean Spaniel, wished the candidates would have touched more on the current economic disaster.

“I really wish they would have talked more about the mortgage crisis,” Spaniel said.

Wednesday’s event also marked the first time that the various controversial pieces of each campaign’s ads were brought into the forefront of a debate.

Obama’s response to McCain’s claim that he still had a strong connection to former radical activist Bill Ayers brought a round of applause from those attending and seemed to earn one of the highest audience responses of the night.

The students in the discussion also enjoyed Obama’s response to how he would handle current higher education issues.

“When McCain talked about education, he only talked about making loans more available,” said sophomore Taylor Trippe. “Ok, that doesn’t help us.”

Reach reporter Julian Martin at news@dailyuw.com.