GENEVA – Those at a debate watching party Wednesday in downtown Geneva compared the verbal match between Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney as a sporting event.

The Geneva and St. Charles Republican Central Committees promoted it as such with posters reminiscent of a boxing match, calling the debate “The Mile-High Melee” and asking, “Can Barack defend his title?”

But Ken Shepro, the St. Charles Township Republican chairman, didn’t trivialize the importance of the long-held election tradition. Debates, he said, are important because it’s the only chance voters have to see the candidates in the same room, where it’s difficult to run and hide.