Posted on Thu, Jan. 24, 2008

The five Republican candidates sit patiently behind their podiums, while stage managers and technicians adjust glaring spotlights and roving cameras stationed around the empty auditorium.

Meanwhile, Megan Trombino waits patiently while her fellow debate moderator poses the next question:

``Mayor Giuliani, who would win in a fight: Capt. Kirk or Chuck Norris?''

Thursday's Republican presidential debate at Florida Atlantic University has given some Florida college students a behind-the-scenes look at presidential politics. Students such as Trombino have spent the days leading up to the debate standing in for candidates and political pundits during rehearsals, acting as assistants to press personalities and answering questions ranging from ''Where do I park?'' to ``Where's the nearest Starbucks?''

RUBBING ELBOWS

Trombino, 22, spent Wednesday afternoon pretending to be NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert and is set to spend Thursday working as an assistant for MSNBC's Hardball host, Chris Matthews. And for young wannabe politicos like her, it's a backstage pass few students had in the years when few paid attention to Florida's primary.

''It's an experience everyone should have,'' said Trombino, a senior studying public communications. ``It's like being behind the scenes at the Emmys. Everyone watches them on TV, but you don't really see what's happening.''

Trombino, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, started paying attention to politics long before she could vote. She would watch the news and compare the political commentary to what she heard at home. When she was about 15, she went to a political rally in West Palm Beach for George W. Bush, and she was hooked.

''To have everyone so happy that this random governor from Texas was coming to town because he might be president, I think that's the first time I fell in love with the actual feeling of being in politics,'' said Trombino, while eight flat-screen televisions broadcast MSNBC in the debate's media room. ``There were hundreds of people and everyone was carrying signs and they were just so happy to be part of something.''

Trombino's a registered Republican. But she has volunteered for both George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton and considers herself an independent. But even that's a little radical for her family.

''I was raised in a staunch Republican household, so there wasn't much deviation from tradition,'' she said. ``So now I'm in college, and I'm seen as a bra-burning hippie feminist.''

In a Wednesday afternoon rehearsal, she took a nonpartisan role as Russert, while other volunteers played the five Republican candidates.

PLAYING RUDY

Christian Waugh, 25, a law student at the University of Florida, plans to vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But on Wednesday, he was Romney's Republican rival, Rudy Giuliani.

''So far I haven't really had the chance to get into character,'' he joked during a break between rehearsals. ``But we will be doing that soon. I'll be talking about my new tax plan and how I was the mayor of New York City during 9/11.''

Trombino dreams of becoming a politician someday. But she also imagines what it would be like to hop on a media campaign bus like Alexandra Pelosi in the 2002 film Journeys with George. And while she makes up her mind, she's keeping her political slate clean. Just in case.

''Nobody could say that I've ever inhaled,'' she said. ``I don't have any intern stories. I'm pretty much a clean whistle at this point.''