Usually, political conventions don't draw huge television audiences. Not like, say, the finale of American Idol, or the Super Bowl, or the Olympics. But this year, it was different. 

According to Nielson Media Research, the presidential nominee acceptance speeches at the Democratic and Republican conventions were watched by 38.4 million viewers and 38.9 million viewers, respectively. In Bismarck, North Dakota, crowds gathered in bars, restaurants, and homes to catch the shows. 

One of those house parties was hosted by the Seth family, along with their son, 20-year-old Sanjay. The family, strong supporters of Barack Obama, welcomed about 50 people into their home, including many of the campaign workers in Obama's Bismarck headquarters.  After Obama's nomination speech, Seth's friends gathered in the family's basement to discuss their reactions.  

The topics of concern for the small group of 17 to 24-year olds were diverse, but consistently came back to three: education, the Iraq War, and the economy. 

In this crowd, Obama's speech was well-received.

"I just thought it was awe-inspiring. He speaks from such a genuine place, and his story is like a lot of Americans," said Faith Fletcher, 24, who recently moved to Bismarck from Detroit.

Damir Bicanic, 20, said he was happy to hear Obama outline part of his education plan.

"I listened closely to what he said about things that deal with my age group. About college tuition, and college expenses," Bicanic said. "Obama talked about giving college students a $4,000 grant…that would definitely help out a lot."

While college tuition costs were on a lot of people's minds, for others, who are currently students enrolled in the public school system, public education is a big issue. 

Cholopon Ramizova, 17, a student at Bismarck High School, said even though she won't be old enough to vote in this election, she wanted to learn more about Obama and his plan to change President Bush's No Child Left Behind education initiative, which she thinks needs to be eliminated. 

"My dad is a teacher at an elementary school, and since No Child Left Behind, he's lost all inspiration. He's lost his love of teaching," Ramizova said. "Some of the curriculum has been changed so he can't teach what he wants to, what he wants to focus on, like the world and what's going on, because students these days are just basically trained to take standardized tests."

For young Republicans who gathered to watch John McCain's acceptance speech, their chosen candidate delivered. 

"He really touched on all the points that I think mattered to Republicans in general, and actually, just to Americans. He's a very patriotic candidate, he really stresses servant leadership, which is nice, when everything seems to be so 'me, me, me,'" said Erik Stenehjem, 20, who watched the speech in his dorm room on the University of Mary campus. "He just seems like a man that's going to work for the people, and work for what's best for the country, and not what's best for his career."

Erik Nygren, 22, chairman of the North Dakota State University College Republicans, attended the convention in St. Paul as a page. In that role, he was able to watch the convention action from the floor, and do behind-the-scenes work before the convention began. Nygren said that while McCain's acceptance speech was inspiring to him as a young Republican, vice-presidential candidate's Sarah Palin's speech the previous night was his favorite of the convention. 

"I don't even know how to describe it," Nygren said. "[Rudy] Giuliani spoke right before her and gave an astounding speech, and I was worried before she came out, because I'd never heard her speak before, I was worried that she wasn't going to be able to stand up to Giuliani's speech. But she knocked the ball out of the park. Everybody, on the floor, everywhere, they went crazy."

Others who watched Palin's speech from home said they were equally electrified.

"I've never been more proud to be a Republican woman," said Sarah Craig, 24, of Bismarck. "Palin had a phenomenal speech. I'm really happy with her."

Watching McCain's acceptance speech during a viewing party at Bismarck's Elks Club, Craig said the issue she wanted to learn more about was the Republican's proposed health care initiative, and she liked what McCain has planned. 

"I think that the free-market health care system is the way to go. I think that government regulations on the insurance industry is what's making the cost of health care go up, and I just don't think that universal health care system is what's  good for America right now," Craig said. 

Sanjay Seth, one of the hosts of Bismarck's Democratic convention viewing parties, said despite the fact that he's a staunch Democrat, he was excited to see so many young people actually watch both conventions. 

"Good things only happen when there's a movement," said Seth. "We all need to say 'No, I don't think that's right. No, I want to do something. I want to change this part of my society. I want to change this at a state and local level.' And that means getting involved."