In a literal face-off Wednesday night, political heavyweights James Carville and Dan Lungren traded barbs about the 2000 elections and partisan politics across the Institute of Politics' (IOP) ARCO forum stage.

The discussion became intense as the two stared each other down, vigorously defending their positions on the issues facing the country in the upcoming elections.

Carville, a Democratic political strategist and a senior adviser to President Clinton, and IOP Fellow Lungren, a former Republican U.S. representative and California attorney general, discussed issues ranging from cynicism in politics to defense spending, based on their parties' stances.

"I knew this would be entertaining," interjected moderator and IOP Fellow Raymond Strother as Carville and Lungren argued about partisanship.

The event began with a discussion of the upcoming presidential election. Carville and Lungren outlined their views on the major candidates and their predictions about their campaigns.

While both believe that Vice President Al Gore '69 and Texas Gov. George W. Bush are poised to win their parties' nominations over former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley and Arizona's John McCain, respectively, both speakers maintained that anything is possible.

Carville hazarded that he thinks McCain will defeat Bush, the Republican frontrunner, in the first New Hampshire primary.

"We have four serious, reasonable candidates," Carville said. "They don't give these things away without a fight. If anyone thinks the race is over, they're in serious trouble."