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For a few short moments Wednesday night, it seemed that Republicans and Democrats, despite their ideological differences, could stand together in the same room united in a single purpose – the selection of our next president.

Of course each side had its own man for the job, and soon enough the debate that had just ended between presidential hopefuls Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) came to life in the media center next door to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at Hofstra University in Long Island.

Filled with supporters carrying signs for their candidates, and prominent elected officials perched beneath, meeting with droves of journalists from around the world, the media center next door to the debate hall, which sat quiet through most of the night, sprang to life as each party began to try to spin their candidate’s statements toward a perception of victory in the verbal battle that ensued for the previous 90 minutes.

McCain, who entered the debate behind by as much as 14 points according to a CBS News/Times poll, worked hard to keep Obama on the defensive throughout the night. U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) described McCain as boxer, constantly pushing Obama back onto his heels, though admittedly not quite against the ropes.

“He worked to dominate the debate,” King said of McCain. “He clearly controlled the tempo.”

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) saw the sparring from a different perspective. Obama “clarified some points that Sen. McCain has twisted in his ads” and “shed some light” on “the truth” of what Obama plans to do for the country.

George Grieves, a Hofstra student from Far Rockaway who is an admitted Obama supporter, said he thought his candidate had the upper hand in the debate.

“He cleared up some of the untruths that McCain has used,” he said. “How many times is McCain going to talk about the taxes Obama will raise, when Obama has been clear that 95 percent of the country wouldn’t feel any tax increase?”

Junair Persaud, of Mineola, sporting a McCain-Palin baseball cap, chimed in that McCain’s tax plan was more sound than Obama’s “and rooted in the economic reality of today.”

That sort of debate carried on late into the evening, with supporters on both sides cordially “correcting” one another.

Throughout the debate, McCain supporters wearing purple baseball caps buzzed their way through the media center, dropping talking point updates on journalists’ desks as each question was raised by moderator Bob Schieffer. Obama supporters were nowhere to be seen at the time, though after the debate ended a member of his campaign staff admitted that the campaign felt secure enough in its lead in the polls to not “feel like we have to push the media” on every point.

The debate hall itself was filled with a string of national and local dignitaries, including many Congress members and New York state legislators, as well as Gov. David Paterson.

By the time the crowd had petered out and the late-night news crews began to pack their gear, a few elected officials lingered, answering questions, signing autographs, posing for pictures and preparing to face the next 20 days counting down to the Nov. 4 election, each appearing fully confident that their candidate was the one voters will select on Election Day.