Former Sen. Bob Graham spoke like a sportscaster giving a pregame analysis. In a speech before the presidential debates Tuesday night, Graham compared the debates to a championship game in which each player shows his strengths.
He spoke at a bipartisan event called "Florida and the Next President" in the Ocora Room at Pugh Hall. The event attracted more than 120 people.
"The man who wins in a political debate is the one who you want to bring home and drink beer and eat barbeque with," Graham said.
He compared the night to the 1980 debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, in which Reagan had to prove that he was more than a B-list movie star.
Graham was joined by UF political science professor Richard Scher, who Graham said was the leading figure for electoral campaigns and Florida politics.
Scher said the debates are used as a way to keep voters intrigued.
"The debates are designed so that you don't lose your enthusiasm," he said. "The candidates can strut their stuff."
Graham said Obama is in a position where he can win many undecided voters if he proves his experience and leadership ability.
He jokingly asked the crowd if there would still be two candidates by the end of the night, suggesting the stress of the current economic crisis is enough to knock a politician out of the race.
One of McCain's criticisms is that he is too strident and needs to loosen up, he said.
Graham said he came to UF to tell students what to look for in the debate.
