WSET.com - ABC13Coulter and Carville Go Head-to-Head at W&L

Reporter: Mark Kelly l Videographer: Parker Slaybaugh

Lexington, VA - Some of the biggest names in the GOP were in Lexington Thursday and will be around all weekend. Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, Eric Cantor all top the VIP list at Washington and Lee's 26th mock convention.

The nationally acclaimed event attempts to correctly choose the presidential nomination for the party that currently doesn't hold the White House, and it's a spectacle the politicos just can't turn down.

Kicking off the convention, Democratic Strategist James Carville went head-to-head with Conservative Pundit Ann Coulter - and the crowd went wild. Carville and Coulter pulled no punches as they debated hot topics like government mandating insurance coverage for birth control.

"If my insurance pays for my Viagra, it can pay for your birth control pills. I'll tell ya that right now!" said Carville.

"You don't call up Geico every time you need to gas up your car. Well, that's what birth control is - it's $20 a month and it's expected. It's not cancer.  It's not a heart attack," said Coulter.

W&L student Jarrett Smith's a Democrat, but likes both Carville and Coulter.

"There were points that Carville had that I thought were great and there were points that Coulter had that were great.  And I think that's really the best thing about 'Mock Con,'" said Smith.

For more than 100 years, giants in American politics have come to W&L to debate and pick a presidential nominee. The school claims this is the most accurate student-run mock convention in the country.

Andre Holmes came all the way from Florida to experience it.

"This is amazing. You can tell that a lot of work and dedication is put in to this particular event," said Holmes.

After the Carville-Coulter debate heated the room up, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee cooled down the rhetoric. But he still showed the power of the American Presidency - a power that can stick around long after the President's gone.

"You can get rid of a President in 4 years; you are stuck with judges 30, 40 years and sometimes beyond," said Huckabee.

Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor will make an appearance.