It was a battle for hearts and minds, a chance to appeal to those who see the world differently and try to move those realities just a little closer together.
And so Jon Stewart pleaded with Bill O'Reilly, a man he dubbed the mayor of a place where the citizens think President Obama is Kenyan; a place where Christmas is under siege; a place Mr. O'Reilly more politely referred to as “Excrement Mountain.â€
“Talk to your people,†Mr. Stewart begged Mr. O'Reilly.
Two years after Mr. Stewart, the anchor of Comedy Central's “The Daily Show,†co-hosted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, he returned to the capital Saturday with Mr. O'Reilly, the host of “The O'Reilly Factor†on Fox. Sharing a stage to entertain and - dare they say it? - even educate, the pair squared off just a few days after the first presidential debate on some of the most serious policy issues facing the nation, from health care to foreign policy to entitlements.
Appearing before a sold-out crowd of 1,500 at George Washington University and thousands of fans streaming the debate online for $4.95, the TV personalities offered an evening of political jousting that was in turns thoughtful, sardonic and hilarious, dubbed “The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium.â€
As is often the case when these longtime frenemies meet, the exchange occasionally got heated, particularly when it came to entitlements. Arguing that Mr. Obama had made it easier for people to take advantage of the system, Mr. O'Reilly said he did not begrudge those who needed help. But when Mr. Stewart posited that Mr. O'Reilly himself had been the beneficiary of government help as the child of a World War II veteran, Mr. O'Reilly protested, touching a nerve with his opponent.
“Why is it that if you take advantage of a tax break and you're a corporation, you're a smar t businessman, but if you take advantage of something that you need to not be hungry, you're a loser?†Mr. Stewart said.
But there were also moments of agreement that stood out in the context of a debate between political rivals in Washington. In addition to their mutual admiration for Robert Kennedy, Mr. O'Reilly said they shared a concern for veterans.
“We should not have gone to Iraq,†he added. “Afghanistan, we had to.â€
With that, Mr. Stewart climbed on his podium, projecting his voice to the audience.
“Somebody better live-tweet that!†he cried, punctuating his request with an expletive.
Many of the viewers who hoped to stream the event online were disappointed when technical difficulties prevented them from watching the debate live. An apologetic message sent from the event's Twitter account explained that the servers had crashed under heavy demand.
Event officials did not immediately know how many people had been unabl e to stream the debate. Mr. O'Reilly emphasized to reporters that the debate would be available online for those who had missed it.
Preparation is key for political debates, and that means choosing the right sparring partner. Stephen Colbert, satirist and host of Comedy Central's “The Colbert Report,†acted as Mr. O'Reilly's stand-in for a little debate prep on Mr. Stewart's show Wednesday. Doling out admonishments like “never admit your opponent is right,†Mr. Colbert channeled some of film's great coaches, instructing Mr. Stewart to warm up by chasing a chicken around the studio a la “Rocky II.â€
Mr. O'Reilly told Mr. Stewart on Thursday that his coach was Professor Irwin Corey, the 98-year-old comedian known as “The World's Foremost Authority.â€
While a young crowd at a college in a reliably blue town wouldn't seem to be Mr. O'Reilly's target demographic - as Mr. Stewart said, “Right now Bill O'Reilly's audience is calling my audience on the phone to try to figure out how to download this thing†- the audience applauded many of the Fox host's points. But he also expressed arguably the least popular opinion of the debate.
“I think the whole health care system has to be reorganized in this country. It has to be, basically, run by insurance companies, not the government,†Mr. O'Reilly said, eliciting boos and groans from the otherwise friendly audience.
Mr. O'Reilly and Mr. Stewart have been guests on each other's programs since 2001. Arguing about politics and the media - Mr. Stewart is a vocal critic of Fox News - the pair rarely agree on anything except their mutual respect for each other.
“The thing I like about you is you do take cheap shots all the time, but you defend those cheap shots, and you do it well,†Mr. O'Reilly said when Mr. Stewart appeared on his program last year.
“The man coordinates a mean outfit,†Mr. Stewart said Saturday.
After being presented with champion belts like those given to boxers, the pair declined to say which of them had won, granting that designation to the moderator, CNN's E. D. Hill. But at the end of a night of frequently substantive debate, did the men learn anything from each other?
“Now I know I'm right,†Mr. O'Reilly said.
Half of the profits from the debate will be donated to charity.
