Few Fireworks, Plenty of Contrasts

When Jim Lehrer asked Al Gore '69 if he thought George W. Bush didn't have enough experience to be president, Gore responded by not responding.

Lehrer had offered Gore a prime opportunity to highlight Bush's political inexperience in the first question of the night--but Gore took a pass.

"I have not questioned his experience, I have questioned his proposals," Gore said, promptly launching into a discourse about balanced budgets, Social Security and middle-class tax cuts.

Gore's initial response promised that the night would hold few fireworks. Gore stuck to his bread and butter strength--mastery of the issues--while Bush tried to be a straight-talking Texan.

And while Bush pulled a few punches, making digs at Gore's inventor of the Internet claims and his statistics, Gore was not caught off-guard.

When Bush made a reference to Gore's infamous Buddhist fundraiser in 1996, implying that the vice president was irresponsible, Gore countered that he wanted to focus on results, not scandals.

As Bush implied that Gore is a politician who can not be trusted, Gore grilled Bush on his large tax cut proposal and his refusal to put Medicare in a "lockbox," and challenged him to support the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.

Bush responded that Gore had tried to unfairly take credit for sponsoring a campaign finance reform bill, giving him "no credibility on the issue."

"I am not going to lay down my arms during the middle of the campaign for someone who has no credibility on the issue," Bush said.

A formidable debater, a policy wonk able to continuously spout off issue-related facts and figures, Gore indeed came off as a career politician.

But while Bush presented himself as an untainted, no-frills operator straight from the heart of Texas, his efforts to present swing voters with an appealing, charismatic alternative to Gore were hampered.

Unlike Gore, he stuttered and stumbled at times. Elsewhere, Bush seemed somewhat passive--while Gore nearly always tried to get an extra word in, Bush gave numerous short, two-or-three sentence rebuttals. And he made several perplexing statements.

"The role of the military is to fight and win war and therefore prevent war from taking place in the first place," Bush said at one point.

Earlier, Bush initially made a joke when asked what he would do in a crisis situation as president.

"I've stood up to big Hollywood, big trial lawyers," Bush said. "What was the question? It was about big emergencies, wasn't it?"

But though he might not have entirely succeeded in convincing voters to elect him and not career politician Gore as president, Bush held his own during much of the debate, sounding well-versed on oil supply and education issues and energetically pushing his tax cut proposal.

"I think it's the hard-working people of America's money, and I want to share it with you," Bush said.

The government, he added, will collect $4 trillion in surplus revenue over the next 10 years.

"Surely we can send five percent of that back to those who pay the bills," Bush said, referring the projected cost of the tax cut.

And on several issues, ranging from middle-class tax cuts to prescription drug benefits for seniors, Bush said he would take action where Gore (and Bill Clinton) had promised to but had not.

"It seems like they can't get it done," Bush said. "There have been missed opportunities. They've had a chance."

For both candidates, last night offered the last best chance to try to convince the crucial block of swing voters they are qualified enough to occupy the White House.

While two debates remain, they will vary in format from the traditional lectern set-up, allowing less vigorous give-and-take between the candidates.

And more importantly, the American public, which barely watched the Sydney Olympics, will probably not remain glued to their television sets for the concluding debate rounds.

Both campaigns will begin unleashing massive, targeted advertising campaigns in the final weeks of the race, trying to convince undecided voters that their candidate has the smarts and the integrity to lead the nation.

But it is quite possible that the much-romanticized swing voters got their best--and perhaps only--unpolished look at the candidates for 90 minutes last night.

While the candidates labored over the specifics of tax cuts and Social Security, the small details--Bush's nervous smile, Gore's long-winded answers--could potentially sway votes. And in what is potentially the closest race since 1960, it is the smallest things that count.