In an Anchorage sports bar, a microcosm of Alaska's electorate takes in the presidential debate

Only a fraction of the more than 70 screens at Anchorage's Peanut Farm Bar and Grill were tuned to the presidential debates on Monday night. "Monday Night Football" was a bigger draw at the bar, which boasts that it televises more sports than any other establishment in Alaska.

But in one room of the sprawling watering hole, a microcosm of the Alaska electorate was having a drink or two while watching Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump square off in front of a television audience that was projected to reach nearly 100 million people.

The people watching the debate in this corner of this bar in this neighborhood of Anchorage represented much of the political spectrum: with her, for him or too disgusted to get behind either.

Just as the debate went live, Ed Pico, a contractor who specializes in remodeling kitchens, sat drinking a coffee and Baileys, clad in Pittsburgh Steelers gear.  A football fan, he still couldn't believe more people cared about the game than the debate, evidenced by hearty cheers from a room featuring the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.

"It's troubling to me that people are watching football and that's more important than the future of our country to them," Pico said.

Although he said he was not without reservations about the candidate, his vote would be for Trump.

"I don't like it but that's the best choice I have," he said.

Hillary Clinton, he said, was a liar. And she'd been a political insider in the system for too long.

"We need change," he said. "Trump is the only one who can bring it."

Pico said he cared enough about this election to vote for the first time since he was 18 — he's now 49.

"I think Hillary is in for a big surprise," he said. "There's a lot of people just like me out there."

A few barstools away, Deborah Caldwell sat drinking a glass of sauvignon blanc next to Marilynn King. The two friends diverge on politics: Caldwell is a Clinton supporter. King says she's voting for Trump.

Political differences had not soured Caldwell's friendship with King, who was nodding along with Trump as he talked about trade as she sipped a Corona Light.

"This is Alaska. This is a Republican state," Caldwell said. "You have to really kind of listen to what people with other opinions have to say."

[Alaska state agency tweets criticism of Trump's debate performance]

Down the hall, Sheila Robinson and her dad, Bill Sanford, were listening to the debate in a sunny room with a view of Campbell Creek. 

"I don't think they've stuck to the topics very well," said Robinson, a small-business owner.

Sanford said he might have been tempted by a third-party candidate. But now that it was down to Clinton and Trump, he was behind the Democrat.

"All the things he talked about doing, he never says how he's going to do it," Sanford said. "I'm not concerned about her damn emails. That doesn't bother me."

On the other side of the bar, Kevin Vakalis was by himself, finishing a microbrew. He said he'd thought long and hard and could not see himself getting behind either candidate. He doesn't believe either has personal integrity. 

"At the end of the day it's just frustrating," said Vakalis, who works for the state and as a real estate broker, in addition to leading a Boy Scout troop and coaching sports. He gestured at the screen. "Where do you go with this?"