Student supporters had high hopes for Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday night.

They hoped for an electric speech, one that would define Obama’s Democratic run for president and one that would lure undecided voters to their candidate of choice.

Students started to gather for the 7:15 p.m. speech about two hours ahead of time at the Hilliard Plaza on the lower quad. Many wore Obama stickers while milling about Obama signs. Some played hacky sack and others talked politics before heading to the Joe Crowley Student Union to watch the speech.

“I’m hopefully expecting a huge turn of support for Obama,” said Christopher Swinger, a 21-year-old anthropology major. “I think that will actually happen and the momentum will be turned in his favor.

“He’s a very dynamic speaker and there’s a lot of other dynamic speakers at the event too and it will sway a lot people to his campaign and to his message.”

About 70 people settled into chairs for the 45-minute speech in which Obama formally accepted his party’s nomination for the presidency. They cheered at major campaign points, like the theme of change or affordable healthcare, and laughed when Obama made jabs-as-jokes at Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

“Sen. McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really what does that say about judgment when Sen. McCain thinks President Bush was right 90 percent of the time?” Obama asked the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

A thousand miles away, students and community members laughed in the student union.

Jennifer Bowers, an 18-year-old political science major and a member of the Obama club at UNR, said his speech hit all the right marks.

“I always think that his speeches are great,” she said. “They are very inspiring and uplifting.

“They give you a little bit of more hope so that when you’re out there for four hours trying to register people and you come back with two registration forms it reminds you why you’re out there.”