Bill Maher presented his “Politically Incorrect” college tour to a sold-out crowd of 1,600 people at Sacramento State Friday night.

Maher and several guests discussed the upcoming elections and also debated such issues as Halloween, God, and marriage.

“I thought it was absolutely awesome,” said Jerry Lambert, a construction management senior at Sac State. “It was much better than on TV.”

After several rounds of spontaneous clapping from the audience, Maher made his appearance on the stage at 8:10 p.m. and was greeted by a shout of “Bill Maher sucks!” from a female member of the audience.

Maher laughed and proceeded to deliver a 20-minute stand-up comedy routine on the current political campaigns. As the name of his show implies, Maher blasted the presidential candidates in a very un-politically-correct style. A self-proclaimed Ralph Nader fan, Maher did not hesitate to speak freely about George W. Bush and Al Gore.

“Al Gore talks like a gay southern man?and Bush is stupid,” he said. “I will not vote for these mother [expletive].”

As many late-night show hosts do, Maher spent some time discussing Clinton?s affair with Monica Lewinsky. He defended Clinton, saying that the president?s brain is more important than his private life.

“Clinton is a good liar. That is why we elected him twice,” Maher said.

Following Maher?s stand-up routine, he introduced a panel of four, which included Associated Students, Inc., President Jason Bryant, Channel 10 anchor Dan Elliott, actor Guy Torry and Christine O?Donnell, president of the Saviors Alliance for Lifting the Truth. Maher and O?Donnell spent most of the time debating their fundamental differences in Halloween, God, the elections, and marriage.

The outspoken O?Donnell spoke freely of her Christian beliefs and drew boos and hisses from the audience several times, especially when she described Halloween as “celebrating Satan?s holiest day.”

The panel members poked fun at each other several times. Torry called Bryant “N?Snyc,” and at another point, Bryant referred to O?Donnell as Monica Lewinsky.

O?Donnell drew more controversy when the panelists began to discuss the economy. Elliott asked why Bush hadn?t helped the economy when he was in office, and O?Donnell said that he was “laying the groundwork” for Clinton.

O?Donnell did draw applause from the audience once, when she said, “Marriage is disposable.” Before the show was finished, Maher took several questions from the audience. In response to a question about school vouchers, Maher simply said, “I don?t have kids. Who cares?”

When another audience member asked about teaching evolution in schools, Maher began to hum the “Jeopardy!” theme song. O?Donnell said that there was no conclusive evidence for evolution, and drew more boos from the audience.

The show ended at 9:45 p.m. with attendees gathered in groups outside the room sharing their own opinions on the issues covered. One man handed out Nader stickers and brochures, and the Hornet Bookstore sold 20 copies of Maher?s book, entitled “Does Anybody Have a Problem with That?”

“I thought the show was awesome. He says exactly what is on our minds,” said Eric Philbin, a freshman computer science major who bought Maher?s book.

“I really didn?t want to come, but I was really impressed with the topics,” said Philbin?s friend, Nicky Johnson.

The one complaint that some people had was the seating. Kevin Tse, a graduate student in business, arrived at 5 p.m. in order to get a seat in the front row.

Shawn Federoff, who came from Chico to see the event, was disappointed in his seat near the back of the room. “I wouldn?t have spent so much time at the bar if I knew the seating was going to be bad,” he said.

However, most people seemed to enjoy the show. “I thought it was very good. [Maher] seems very well-informed,” said Sac State graduate Natalie Newman.