There were supporters of both Barack Obama and John McCain going into Santa Fe Community College on Tuesday to watch the televised presidential debate — and when they left, apparently nobody's mind had changed.

About 100 people attended the debate. At the end of a brief discussion afterward, Bill Dupuy, news director of debate-party sponsor KSFR-FM, asked for a show of hands from those who had been swayed by either candidate. Nobody raised a hand.

Unlike previous debate-watch events at SFCC, in which the audience seemed to consist entirely of supporters of Democrat Obama, there was a contingent of McCain supporters present Tuesday. Many of them wore T-shirts indicating their support for the Republican nominee.

Each camp faithfully applauded at its candidate's obvious applause lines during the debate. But in contrast with last week's vice-presidential debate — where many audience members laughed at Republican candidate Sarah Palin — there was relatively little open derision of candidates Tuesday.

One notable exception was the booing and hissing from a few Obama supporters after McCain said, "Senator Obama would have brought our troops (in Iraq) home in defeat. I'll bring them home with victory and with honor, and that is a fundamental difference."

The discussion following the debate was brief and without much partisan fire. None of McCain's supporters spoke in support of the Arizona senator during this segment.

The war in Iraq was on the minds of some debate watchers. One man said people shouldn't believe the troop surge in Iraq was working. "I know Iraqi people," the man said. "They say it's a disaster. We've lost our moral standing in the world."

Brian Ford, who identified himself as a Vietnam veteran, said of McCain: "It's astounding to me that American people can listen to a Vietnam veteran talk about winning a war in Iraq that has cost the lives it's cost. ... That was a very hard thing for Americans to accept, that we were wrong and we lost, and we are wrong again."

After the event, a McCain supporter — who would only identify himself as Michael — got into a heated discussion with an Obama supporter — who only identified herself as Vicki.

Michael said he'd been told to shut up by an Obama supporter during the debate, and another had used a profanity to characterize Michael's opinions.

During their conversation, which lasted about 10 minutes, Michael and Vicki discussed "the lies" of the candidates, tax breaks for corporations, Obama's association with former Weather Underground leader William Ayers and Saturday Night Live's parodies of Palin.

"This is better than McCain and Obama," said one woman watching Michael and Vicki.

SFCC will host a similar debate-watching event for the final presidential debate Oct. 15.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.