DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — The signs shouted "McCain 2000." The caps said "Vietnam vet" and "VFW." And around the crowded bar where the Arizona senator's supporters watched him debate his rivals on TV, the sentiment was pretty much the same: McCain, McCain, McCain.

But in the midst of this partisan party Thursday night, one quiet corner table at Libby's Bar & Grill offered a voter cross-section. Four colleagues from a county courthouse — a Democrat, an independent, a lifelong Republican and a McCain volunteer — debated the merits of John McCain, the GOP debate and the entire presidential campaign.

There was Tim Dempsey, a Republican and McCain backer who wasn't entirely happy with the candidates' prickliness. "It was kind of a free-for-all — one-line zingers. It's become Don Imus politics," he said. "I don't know how much we all learned tonight."

There was Karen Pawlak, a longtime independent who wasn't sure where her vote would go but came with her friends to the McCain gathering out of curiosity and liked what she saw of the senator. "I'm pretty close. Tonight helped,'' she said.

There was Kathy Nikitas, a Democrat-turned-independent who admits she wouldn't mind seeing Bill Bradley as president but has volunteered for the McCain campaign. "There's just something about this person that made me say a couple of years ago, `That man should be my president,"' she said.

And there was Jenny Sheehan, a Democrat through and through, a former Michael Dukakis staffer who is drawn to McCain and says she would vote for him over Al Gore, though not over Bill Bradley. "I love the thought of a Bradley-McCain race," she said. "That would be thrilling."

This seems to happen a lot in New Hampshire, where voters pride themselves on being independent-minded. Partisan gatherings are peppered with people who are undecided, leaning or just want to see politics and pageantry firsthand.

At the next table over, Agnes Waldron, a retired emergency-room clerk, was still mulling things over. Don't be fooled by the McCain 2000 sign sitting at her table, she said: "I'm still thinking."

For the quartet from the Rockingham County Courthouse, the thrill was more in participation than partisanship — something they consider a hallmark of New Hampshire voters.

"It might seem strange that somebody's interested in both Bradley and McCain," said Ms. Nikitas, who is. "But they're both willing to tell us what we don't want to hear, no matter what the reaction. And this country needs to hear things it doesn't want to hear."

Dempsey, pressed for something he didn't like about McCain, cited the "Keating Five" — the 1991 incident in which he and four other senators faced allegations they improperly intervened with federal banking regulators to help a savings-and-loan financier.

"It doesn't pass the smell test," said Dempsey, who works in the county treasurer's office.

Ms. Sheehan, a victims' advocate in the county prosecutor's office, knows McCain through her brother, who worked for the late Rep. Morris Udall, D-Ariz. "I don't agree with him on every single issue," she said, "but I think John McCain is very decent."

Nearly an hour after the debate ended, McCain showed up and wound his way through the cheers to the courthouse gang's table. They were dazzled.

"Senator," Ms. Sheehan told him, "you have a great sense of humor." Then a pause. "Don't lose it."

McCain giggled.

For Ms. Sheehan, lifelong Democrat pondering a GOP vote, the evening was complete.

"I've enjoyed my first Republican event. I've survived," she said. Then she looked skyward. "But my mother's turning over in her grave."