Hundreds of students were in the Carey Center last night to hear Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton and a man who has been involved in presidential politics for over two decades, debate former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, a Republican dynamo and frequent Fox News commentator.

I watched all three McCain-Obama debates and I thought last night’s forum was far superior – it was non-stop interesting, at times even humorous, and without interruption deeply informative. The New Horizons Speakers series hit a home run with Lockhart and Santorum. And the moderator for the event, Jen Miele, Class of 2000 grad who is a television news reporter by day and adjunct Saint Vincent professor by night, was a star. She kept things moving along and made it look easy.

In my opinion, there was no clear winner of the debate. Each gave as good as he got. Lockhart drew applause when he touted Senator Obama’s concern for hurting Americans, and Santorum got a burst of applause when he hammered Senator Obama’s support for abortion rights.

But despite these sharp exchanges there was a refreshing civility to the discourse – there were no screaming, finger pointing, and wild accusations. But that is not to say that there wasn’t a rip-roaring disagreement on stage. Lockhart and Santorum outlined the sharp differences that are before the American electorate in the Obama-McCain race.

One way to judge an event like last night is by counting how many attendees “voted with their feet” and left before the program’s conclusion. I think I saw two students leave at the 20 minute mark and that was it. As for the rest, some students were sitting in the aisles and others were riveted to their seats. The 90 minutes flew by.

If you missed last night’s forum, the good news is that the Pennsylvania Cable Network was there to tape the debate and we will give you a heads-up in your daily Saint Vincent College Today email as to when you can watch it on TV. It makes me proud that once again Saint Vincent is getting statewide publicity for an educational forum that was first rate.

What made last night so satisfying to me was the fact that our students chose the speakers, organized the program, and prepared the questions. Special kudos go to Dan Brett of the SGA, Samantha Bowkley of the SFAB, Cassie Fickley and Josh Meny of the Democrat Club, Alex Krupey of the College Republicans, George Miller from the Politics Club, Jen Takacs from the Students for Social Justice Club, and Alicia Rae from the Human Rights Organization, for doing everything from selecting the questions to turning out the crowd.

My wife and our five kids attended and believe it or not, even the kids (ages 15-5) enjoyed the forum, it was that entertaining. I was moved by something one of my sons said when we got home. My 12 year old Max, who met President Bush a number of times and is a big fan of his, no doubt wasn’t pleased with Mr. Lockhart’s repeated criticisms of President Bush over the course of the evening. But to my surprise Max said to me, “I can’t believe this, but I liked Joe Lockhart.”

I heard similar feedback from some students who came and left impressed by the performance of the opposing candidate’s surrogate. At the dinner preceding the debate, we arranged it that Santorum ate with the Democrat Club and Lockhart did the same with the College Republicans. It is easy to dislike someone for their opinions from afar but it is hard to do that when you are breaking bread with him and discovering you like him (but not his political views). In the process you learn the lesson that it is possible to vigorously disagree with another’s opinion without disliking or demonizing the person.

I don’t think many people came into the Carey Center expecting to vote for Senator Obama and left planning to vote for Senator McCain, or vice versa, or for that matter, left undecided. But I do think a lot of folks went home with a good feeling about our democracy, about the right to free assembly and speech, and about their country.

The election is in seven days. Make sure you do your part as an American citizen and vote.

Your vote is where “We the People” (from the Preamble to the Constitution), “E pluribus unum” (which means “out of many, one” and is included in the Seal of the United States) and “In God we trust” (our country’s official motto) converge.