Debate-watch drinking games, with the voters of Virginia

On Tuesday night, the Crystal City Sports Pub in Virginia was packed with sports fans on three levels. TV screens cover every inch of the walls, showing a 360-degree panorama of baseball, football, and mixed martial arts.

But for viewers on the third floor, the sport of choice was the verbal sparring of candidates as President Obama took on Governor Romney in the second presidential debate.

Beer and chicken wings in hand, the crowd nevertheless adopted the demeanour of attentive schoolchildren as moderator Candy Crowley introduced the first town hall participant to pose a question.

A student, he asked for assurance that he would be able to find a job when he leaves school in 2014. The recent Georgetown University graduates in the corner paid particular attention as the candidates explained how they would ensure a robust job market.

The crowd of staunch supporters and wavering undecideds listened attentively as the candidates put forth their ideas on taxes, immigration, and healthcare.

But American politics can veer into comical theatrics at times, and when the debate did so the bar crowd was certainly entertained: hands smacked foreheads as the candidates attempted to talk over each other, walk all over the moderator, and compare pension size.

The audience was acutely aware when the candidates were spouting out rehearsed, stump speech lines, and their debate-watch drinking games made these moments clear (drink every time you hear “middle class”).

There were moments of genuine awe and respect as well. Obama’s recollection of greeting the coffins of those killed in Libya was met with silence and then a strong round of applause from all.

Other responses were more divisive, and it became apparent where the loyalties of each table lay, as each candidate gained momentum. Cheers erupted from one group as Romney laid into Obama on gas prices and energy policy.

Obama’s retort drew a stronger response from across the room, along with a few pointed glares back and forth. A tipsy, but apparently politically engaged drunk provoked the ire of fellow viewers and a loud chorus of “shut up!” as he shouted debate advice at President Obama.

At times, it was hard to tell if the crowd was discussing the debate, or the actual fight on the next screen. “He knocked him out on that one” could have equally refered to a bloody punch, or a particularly well-crafted political zinger.

But unlike the boxing fans on the floor below, no-one walked away feeling defeated. A woman in a Romney T-shirt boisterously sung his praises, claiming there had been a win for “the CEO America needs”.

An Obama supporter pointed out that if Fox News was blaming the moderator for siding with the president, then the president had probably won.

The crowd calmed down as everyone filtered out of the bar after the debate, and the Crystal City Sports Pub bouncers didn’t need to break up any politically fuelled bar brawls.

But no-one could declare a definitive winner of the second debate – perhaps because all the refs were drunk.