By Daniel Klein
Journal staff writer

The presidential election is over and the winner is - George W. Bush.

At least at New Jersey City University.

Yesterday, students playing the roles of the four better-known presidential candidates took part in "The Great Debate" at the school's Michael B. Gilligan Student Union Building. The event was moderated by TV journalist Gil Noble, who serves as a visiting specialist at the university.

"It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun," said Renata Moreira, an NJCU junior, whose tongue-in-cheek portrayal of George W. won raves from the audience. "It was a little stretch for me to be George W. It was a little sadistic, actually," said the psychology major.

But in a twist that harkens back to the elections of 1876 and 1888, the winner of the debate's popular vote did not win in the electoral college.

Suzanne Kabrt, who portrayed consumer advocate Ralph Nader, ran ahead of the field with 100 votes from the audience. Moreira garnered 90 votes as Bush.

Kabrt, a senior from Bayonne, said it's a shame Nader doesn't have as much to spend as Gore and Bush. If he did, "he'd give them a run for their money."

Phillip Chance, a junior at NJCU from Richmond, Va., put his skills as a theater major to work, portraying Vice President Al Gore, and received 56 votes.

"It wasn't really hard for me. I'm going to vote for Gore anyway. I believe in the issues he stands for," Chance said.

Brian Kelley, another senior from Bayonne, played the ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan, scoring 40 votes from the audience.

"Buchanan is an individual with a very controversial view of the world, and he has helped me to see that there are still too many who wish to suppress society."

To make the contest resemble an actual election, the candidates were scored in two sections, according to Walter Glospie, an NJCU English professor and one of the committee members who helped organize the event.

"The popular vote from the audience made up 40 percent of total," Glospie said. "Judges from the 'electoral college' rated the candidates on their debating skills."

The candidates played to a packed house of students, faculty and staff, some bedecked with white boater hats and signs for their favorite candidates.

The debate consisted of an opening round of statements, a round of rebuttals and then questions from the audience.

During the debate, the candidates traded barbs on the issues.

After Chance and Moreira spoke on their pro-choice stands on abortion, Kabrt reminded them that Gore and Bush were both against abortion during their careers.

Kelley, as Buchanan, also reiterated his quote from an address at Bob Jones University.

"Homosexuality is the love that will not shut up," he said, citing Buchanan's perception that the growing acceptance of homosexuality is part of the moral decline in America. Kelley, in reality, is president of the university's gay and lesbian association.

Students enjoyed the event as much as the debaters.