Here's Dartmouth columnist Daniel Belkin's assessment of the 907th '08 Democratic presidential debate held last night in Hanover. IvyGate dedicates this two-part series to keggy.

With the start of classes yesterday here at the College, the newly-minted members of the Class of 2011 were flabbergasted at the bizarre world that lay just outside their dorm room windows. For a fleeting 24 hours, the Big Green was transformed from the tranquil academy depicted in admissions brochures to the wretched hell of presidential politics and media feeding frenzies, replete with activists, politicos and wonks. Not sure which is better.

It was impossible to escape the hubbub in Hanover as students took the detours and inconveniences to their daily routines in stride, making the most of the veritable political Mardi Gras. Live on television, MSNBC quizzed swarms of undergrads - sometimes giving their best deer-in-the-headlights impressions - for their two cents on the election. Kids at the Big Green rubbed elbows with CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider at the local trendy coffee joint, hung out with Newsweek pundit Howard Fineman in Collis Student Center and crossed paths with the likes of Elizabeth Edwards on Main Street. These were among the most thrilling star sightings in Hanover since Third Eye Blind mildly rocked the town earlier in the year. 

In lieu of hosting the usual afternoon Ultimate Frisbee practice, the College Green become home to the oh-so-hip-sounding "free speech zone." Rambunctious campaign zealots were herded like sheep into barricades - at a safe distance from the live taping of Chris Matthews' Hardball, which featured Senator Joe Biden and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. For a solid five hours under the blistering sun, the competing presidential camps traded annoying rhymes and chants: "We've got spirit, yes we do! We've got spirit, how 'bout you?" 

Beyond the Green, the campaigns took to the classrooms as the Rockefeller Center offered the opportunity for students to "Meet the Campaigns" in the afternoon. While New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson showed up in the flesh, this forum seemingly boiled down to the campaigns dispatching their top national policy advisers or most articulate unpaid interns to seduce undecided Dartmouth students - many of whom switched their voter registration to the swing state of New Hampshire, where presidential-wannabes actually care about voters.

Excitingly, midday, former Senator Mike Gravel's campaign staff (i.e. Mike Gravel) announced that the entertaining Alaskan nutcase himself would appear at the meet-and-greet. Upon learning of this latebreaking development, puzzled students exclaimed in unison, "Who the hell is Mike Gravel?" 

Reportedly nursing an ill-timed cold, Illinois Senator Barack Obama remained at arms length prior to the start of the Title Match at 9 p.m. - to the dismay of his throngs of wide-eyed groupies. Obviously my Facebook friendship means absolutely nothing to him! While he enjoys the hefty backing of the young and idealistic Dartmouth crowd, true to form, the 42^nd First Lady boasted the most fine-tuned and well-oiled campaign machine within the crowded field, renting a fleet of U-Haul trucks to import enormous signs and hordes of campaign workers - likely living off cold pizza and five hours of sleep a night - to maximize visibility in Hanover.

Usually requiring an act of God, weekly Wednesday night Greek house meetings were pushed back to Thursday as the hoopla morphed the Blutos and Otters of the world into avid political observers. And despite months of feverish preparation and snowballing hype, the Democratic presidential debate was no political slugfest in the end. It was more like a minor schoolyard scuffle, and probably as boring as it looked on TV.

Still, good stuff for Dartmouth. Not much else may, but at least the road to the White House runs through Hanover.

--DANIEL J. BELKIN