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What did my classroom full of undergrads think about the debate?

I started with a poll. Or rather a series of them.

1. "How many of you watched the debates last night?"
90% of the hands went up.
My reaction: This election is not like any other in my lifetime. I spent 4 years studying PoliSci as an undergrad from 89-93, and a reaction like that from a class full of kids would have been worthy of a breaking news story on CNN.

2. "How many of you who watched the debates were undecided before last night."
Only 4 hands stayed up. Roughly 16% of the class.
My reaction: That's higher than polls are currently reporting, but you know what I think about polls this cycle. But higher is better than lower, since it gives us more undecideds to work with. And that was what I was really after.

3. "If you don't mind answering this one, how may of you undecideds made up your mind last night?"
2 hands up.
My reaction: Wow. That's half of this group, and their hands are held high.

4. "Any chance you'd like to share what made you change your mind?"
Student 1: I came in knowing that I didn't like Bush at all, but I thought Kerry was a douchebag, and it was going to take a lot to convince me to vote for him. But after watching last night, I'm voting for Kerry.
Student 2: Yup, that's pretty much how I feel.
My reaction: That's the abbreviated versions of what they each said. The reality was about 2 minutes worth of details, all of which painted a very, very bleak picture of Bush and a very positive one of Kerry.

5. "OK. You two who are remaining undecided. What will it take for you to make up your minds?"
I'm waiting for the other two debates. After the third debate I'll make up my mind.
My reaction: Remember when I said the debates would decide this? 1 down and 3 to go. And Bush's strong suit, foreign policy, is a win in Kerry's column. If these people are undecided and waiting to hear about domestic issues bbefore making up their minds, that's a huge plus for Kerry.

Conclusion: in my super-unscientific poll, 2 of 4 undecideds broke for Kerry last night. The rest of the room stayed firmly where they started. And even from the pro-Bush people the consensus was that Kerry took the night.

I repeat: landslide of historic proportions.