CONCORD, N.H.--What would happen if they held a presidential debate and no one showed up?

Several hundred Granite State residents found out Sunday afternoon after the four leading Republican presidential candidates pulled out of what was supposed to be a major showdown between all eight contenders two days before the nation's first presidential primary.

After Sen. Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), the front runner in many polls, declined an invitation to attend the forum, which was sponsored by the John Stark Foundation, conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, former Tennessee gov. Lamar Alexander and multimillionaire publisher Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes Jr. declined to participate in the event.

But audience members--who filled nearly half of the 1,200 seats in the Capital Center for the Performing Arts--did not leave disappointed, as organizers scrapped the debate format and allowed the remaining four candidates to speak one-on-one with Chicago Sun-Times correspondent and CNN analyst Robert Novak.

For nearly 90 minutes, U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.), Sen. Richard M. Lugar (R-Ind.), Illinois entrepreneur Morry Taylor and former Ambassador to the United Nations Alan L. Keyes '72 answered questions posed by Novak and audience members, discussing everything from trade policies to future Cabinet appointments.

Throughout their interviews, Dornan and Keyes were often interrupted by applause from the audience and received standing ovations at the end of their presentations.

Dornan, who referred to President Clinton as "a triple draft-dodger" and named officials he would appoint to his cabinet if elected (including 1992 vice presidential candidate Admiral James Bond Stockdale as secretary of defense), said he is particularly concerned with the dire financial and moral crises facing the nation.

The California representative and former talk show host said he would refuse Most Favored Nation trading status to North Korea, Vietnam and particularly China because of their human rights abuses and unfair tading practices.

"This is one sick country over there," Dornan said in reference to China.

Keyes and Taylor also spoke out against Most Favored Nation trading status for China and advocated U.S. military involvement in Taiwan if the nation-state is attacked by China.

Keyes said it is important for the United States to consider the primacy of American interests in foreign policy.

"Lately I get the feeling that Clinton waits for phone calls from [United Nations Secretary General Boutros] Boutros-Ghali and then decides what to do," he added.

Keyes received the loudest applause of the afternoon after stating that his first act upon election would be to "restore the rights of the unborn child" and overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that now protects the legality of abortion.

Lugar focused less on issues of morality than on his proposal to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace it with a national sales tax, a concept shared by Keyes but rejected by Taylor.

"The point of the whole exercise is growth," Lugar said.

Taylor suggested increasing national efficiency by decreasing the size of the government's bureaucracy.

Despite the fact that many would consider these candidates longshots, at best, prominent figures including conservative commentator Arianna Huffington and U.S. Sen Bob Smith (R-N.H.), attended the forum, and attending residents did not go home disappointed.