WASHINGTON — The presidential candidates held another animated debate on Sunday night, one dedicated to covering the many contentious political issues that the previous debates had failed to address.

But it was not Mitt Romney and President Obama sparring over the legality of drone strikes or the best way to end poverty in America. The event was not held in a well-lighted theater, or broadcast to millions at home.

Instead it was four third-party candidates striving to win attention and sway votes in the waning hours of the presidential campaign from a crowded room in the back of a Bohemian coffee shop.

The candidates — Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, Jill Stein of the Green Party, Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party and Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party — sparred at an event moderated by the most famous third-party candidate in recent memory, Ralph Nader.