Hannah Choi '01, the chair of the IOP's Student Advisory Committee, said nothing she heard tonight altered her decision to vote for Bush.

But, she said, she was disappointed in her candidate's performance.

"I'd say there was no clear winner. Gore showed himself to be annoying, but Bush had some moments that were definitely embarrassing," Choi said, referring to Bush's apparent statement that at-risk children were children who "basically can't learn."

The IOP audience included a 60-member focus group convened for ABC's Good Morning America.

Though the crowd was packed with Democrats, the most die-hard partisans were elsewhere, taking in the spectacle at the Gore campaign's official debate-watching party at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.

The viewing crowd of approximately 2,000 people, over half of whom were college students, reacted most strongly when Gore stressed the importance of reproductive rights and when he outlined his proposals for education.

Like the decidedly partisan crowd at the IOP, the Park Plaza Democrats seemed very pleased with Gore's performance and the debate in general.