ST. LOUIS, Missouri, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of university students soaked in the vibrant atmosphere Thursday at the scene of the lone US vice-presidential debate, for many their closest brush with national politics.

With hours to go before the showdown, Washington University in St. Louis reveled in its role as host to the debate between Republican Sarah Palin and her Democratic counterpart Joseph Biden.

The secret service descended in large numbers on the school of 6,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students, and police helicopters flew in loud, lazy circles overhead.

The venue itself, an athletic center, was on lockdown Thursday, with just 300 students winning a ticket lottery out of some 8,000 who applied to watch the debate in person.

But there was a carnival-like atmosphere in the center of campus, which was humming with those eager to thrash out their political views.

'We've always been really enthusiastic. We have something to say, and people really seem to care,' Alexandra Fine, 20, told AFP.

'I do think that the most important thing is that people are voting, and I know that we're idealistic and we're young and we're not really worried about our money yet because we don't really have any money yet,' said Fine, who is studying to be a sex therapist.

By midday, hundreds of students carried political signs or held banners supporting their favored candidates. Others held impromptu rallies.

Some signs tended to cross the line into youthful indignation -- mostly from Obama supporters energized by the presence on campus of Palin, who has stumbled awkwardly in recent interviews and is facing mounting accusations she is not ready for the White House.

One banner held up by a quartet of female students read: 'Sarah Palin, get the puck out of Washington DC!'

'The end is near,' read a second.

Dozens of students waited in line to enter a small booth and speak their mind into a camera for possible broadcast on CNN's website, while nearby, students wrote pithy one-liners on a white board.

'I'm from Alaska, and I love Obama,' said one.

'Bush in a skirt!' cried another.

All the anti-Palin bluster was disconcerting to student Alex Brown, 19, a McCain supporter.

'It's unfortunate that Sarah Palin has made certain statements to the press and in public that have made her, to be completely honest, to appear quite ignorant and uneducated,' said Brown, who is from Houston, Texas.

'Hopefully she has grasped the magnitude of the situation at this point and realizes that ... without a very good show on her behalf tonight, she puts the Republican ticket in great jeopardy.'

Washington University -- one of the best and oldest in the political battleground state of Missouri -- was invited at the last minute to hold a presidential debate in 1992. They've hosted major debates ever since.

'When we heard we got the vice presidential debate we were actually pretty disappointed,' history professor Peter Kastor said.

Then McCain chose Palin as his running mate.

'Fantastic. She and Biden both have the potential to be a little crazy.'

And with last month's first of three presidential debates between McCain and Obama not settling the score to any major degree, many here see the Biden-Palin matchup as critical.

'I've never been to a political rally before, and this is the closest I've come,' said Brown.

But he admits he is swimming against the campus' Democratic tide.

'We are very few and far between here, collegiate conservatives. I think that everyone should be allowed to voice their opinion, and I do my best to entertain the ideas of the other side.'

Student and undecided voter Ellen Drott, 18 and also from Texas, is trying to change that. She is wearing a shirt printed with 'Team Obama/Biden' on the front, in blue. On the back, in red, it says 'Team McCain/Palin.'

Turns out she bought two different shirts on the Internet and sewed them together.

'I've changed it around five times today. It depends on who I'm talking to,' she said.

'My mind is still open. It's ready to be changed.'