Ranging from whether Bush or Kerry would make a better teammate to why the Bush administration never accounts for its mistakes, the subjects raised by teammates in the crowd often prompted laughter—if not the most insightful arguments—from the speakers.

When asked whether any of them would vote for a Yale graduate, each of the six initially balked before Minkoff replied, “Kerry passed.”

“Bush went to Harvard Business School,” Jones quickly responded.

“He was a scholar then,” Ayers quickly added.

But the high point for audience participation came on a question for Reese, whose teammates sat in support in the third row. Speaking of his opponents upon his arrival, Reese had promised he was “gonna get ’em.”

But his observant friends had the last laugh.

When Ayers attributed the rising cost of health insurance to skyrocketing premiums, he suggested that tort reform, advocated by Bush, is the preferred means of providing affordable coverage.

Perhaps unsure as to the term’s precise meaning, Reese leaned to one of his colleagues for a mid-round hint, opening the door for a follow-up question.

“Dylan, can you explain tort reform in detail for all of us?” Nowinski read, chuckling.

“I’d like to pass that question,” Reese answered, smiling at the audience.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.