It seemed more a cocktail party of the after-work club crowd than a political event.

	Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Cristie Fowler, 26, and her husband, James Fowler, 24, from Ben Avon, join in the applause with other Bush supporters watching the debate at Finnigan's Wake on the North Side. Click photo for larger image.

At the North Side bar Finnigan's Wake, the Allegheny County Republican Committee last night hosted a roomful of local Republicans to watch the first presidential debate of Election 2004.

The snugly packed gathering was full of exuberant young college men clad in low slung jeans and T-shirts mingling with fashionable 20- and 30-somethings who regularly burst into hollers and cheers for President Bush and catcalls and sneers for his opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry.

"I'm sorry but the other guy is kinda flaky," said Ko Adams of Greenfield, one of only a handful of about 135 debate watchers who appeared to be more than 35 years old.

"Republican politics are about leading and Democratic politics are about controlling," added Ken Presutti, 22, who arrived with several Republican pals from Robert Morris University before heading to the South Side for a later-night party.

"It's about morals and values and sticking by what you say," said fellow student Derek Hahn, 22, of Peters Township.

"You guys are for Bush?" asked party coordinator Salena Zito as she approached the clique of young men holding beers. "That's awesome!"

Kerry's remarks regularly raised the ire of the assembled Republicans, as they sent up boos and hisses when he mentioned Iraq, homeland security and their apparent pet-peeve -- references to his service in the Vietnam War.

"Right now the major issue is Iraq, and he's trying to bring the debate back to Vietnam," said University of Pittsburgh law student and Oakland resident Jeremy Adair. "Everything that Kerry said he'd do in Iraq, President Bush is already doing."

As the debate concluded, the older folks slipped out quietly as the group quickly morphed into a Thursday night after-party.

"This demonstrates the enthusiasm of the 18-to-33 age group," observed Leslie Gromis Baker, the mid-Atlantic chair for Bush-Cheney 2004. "They believe in the president and they're getting involved."