By Jackson Connor

A slew of attacks and insults aimed at both presidential candidates were traded in front of roughly 50 students Thursday at the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute.

With the presidential election looming, the Northeastern University College Democrats and Northeastern University College Republicans gathered to debate current issues including foreign policy, global warming and energy conservation, economic policy and abortion.

“You’ve heard of the three Rs of education, well here are the three Rs of the Obama campaign: your pay checks are ours, your wallets are ours and your business is ours,” said Derek Miller, treasurer for the College Republicans.

The debate lasted nearly two hours and was littered with sharp one-liners and heated retorts.

Unlike the somewhat tempered series of presidential debates, the audience was permitted to laugh, earning them the title of the “peanut gallery” by many of the debaters.

The debate was moderated by Will Beecher, the head of the university’s debate team. Each topic was divided into four sections. Each party was given a four-minute opening, a 90 second response, a 60-second rebuttal and finally a 90-second closing remark.

A coin toss determined which team offered its argument first. The Democrats, who won the coin toss, opted to answer the first question second.

The party, led by President Adam Spang, cracked joke after joke in the fashion of famous Republican debater Ronald Reagan. Miller drew upon the infamous “there you go again,” line forever linked to Reagan’s 1980 bout with Jimmy Carter. Spang referred to the Republican hero as “The Great Ronald Reagan,” and quoted him frequently.

The Democrats, while more serious in demeanor, also strove to make strong points. President Jason Palitsch cited the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade when arguing in favor of abortion rights.

Spang took the podium to endorse John McCain for the last portion of the debate against Democrat Rosa Barner.

Barner offered wit for the Democrats during the debate through her critiques of McCain’s age.

“I would love for John McCain to be my grandfather, but I don’t want him to be my president,” Barner said to a round of thunderous applause. “You all have an incredible power to make change.”

The jovial tone of the debate set by Spang quickly turned when he accused his opponent of plagiarism. Spang said Barner’s opening speech was the same as a letter to the editor printed in The News that day submitted by Robin.

“I am shocked,” Barner, said about the allegations in her rebuttal.

When Spang attempted to interject, Barner quickly retorted, “It is my turn to speak, please don’t interrupt me,” over a murmur from the audience.

Barner said the thoughts and ideas expressed in the letter and in her speech were compiled by her party as a whole, and in no way were plagiarized.

Some students said they were wary to name a victor after the debate, but were pleased with the topics discussed.

“Both parties conveyed their views intelligently,” sophomore political science major Brendan Slean said. “The Democrats seemed to draw on Barack Obama’s views while the Republicans were independent from John McCain.”

Both parties made strong cases in favor of the policies and ideals they stand behind. The theatrics of the night added to an already intense political battle that has been brewing in the nation.

“There were colorful exchanges on both sides,” Spang said. “No one likes a boring debate.”