It wasn't exactly mudslinging, but the candidates who debated last night weren't exactly friendly, either. Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore claimed many times in his face-off against Republican George W. Bush that Bush's proposed tax plan favors America's wealthy citizens. "[Bush] spends more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent than all of new spending he proposes for education, health care, prescription drugs and national defense all combined," the vice president said early on in the debate. Bush responded in turn by calling Gore's statistics the results of "fuzzy math," a term he used frequently in the debate. "I'm beginning to think that he not only invented the Internet," the Texas governor said in response to Gore's claim that $100 billion would be siphoned out of Medicare in a Bush presidency, "he invented the calculator." Medicare and tax cuts took center stage along with the future of Social Security at the University of Massachusetts' Boston campus, the venue for last night's first presidential debate of the fall. Gore, who advocates putting Social Security funds in a "lock-box" where, theoretically, they cannot be touched, criticized the Bush proposal, which would allow for partial investment of the trust fund in the stock market. "I give a new incentive for younger workers to save their own money and invest their own money, but not at the expense of Social Security," Gore said. "My plan is Social Security-plus. The Governor's plan is Social Security-minus." Bush responded by saying that Gore's plan is fundamentally flawed. "It's not Social Security-plus, it's Social Security plus huge debt," Bush said. As soon as the debate was over, political pundits from the Beltway to Los Angeles rushed to proclaim judgement on who was the victor. "Al Gore was annoying, I thought," conservative commentator William Kristol said on the Fox News Channel. "We were in danger of getting hit by flying numbers," CNN's Candy Crowley said of the first half of the debate. Gore was quick with figures when it came to Medicare and other issues. "If you're in a very poor family or you have very high costs, Medicare will pay all the costs," Gore said of his proposal. "Ninety-five percent of all seniors would get no help whatsoever," Gore said of his opponent's. Bush snapped back, "My answer to that is, the man's running on OMediscare,' trying to frighten people in the voting booth." Bush, whose advisors have sought for weeks to make expectations so low that he would be sure to surpass them, seemed to more than hold his own. "What was plainly obvious was that the Texas governor did have a grasp or balance of the issues," NBC's David Gregory said last night. "It was a serious exchange between the two of them, and that is going to be seen as a victory." However, polls taken immediately following the contest showed Gore faring better. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 435 registered voters who watched the debate found that Gore won, 48 percent to 41 percent. Besides traditional economic issues, moderator Jim Lehrer's questions also focused on foreign policy, education and the fate of abortion protections. Lehrer, the host of PBS' NewsHour, will serve as moderator for all three of the presidential debates. When asked about his opinion of the Federal Drug Administration's recent approval of the abortion pill RU-486, Bush said, "I hope the FDA took its time to make sure that American women will be safe who use [the] drug." Bush evaded a question about whether he would seek to have that decision overturned. Gore, however, brought to the forefront the issue of Supreme Court appointments, an area in which the next president will have a profound effect on the future of certain policies -- including abortion -- for the next generation. "When the phrase Ostrict constructionist' is used... those are code words for saying that the Governor would appoint people who would overturn Roe v. Wade," Gore said, referring to Bush's stated preference in appointing justices. Gore and Bush will next debate on October 11 at Wake Forest University, where the format will be less formal than last night's program. Their third and final debate is scheduled for October 17, in St. Louis, which will follow a town-hall meeting format. The two vice-presidential nominees, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D) and former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney (R) will square off tomorrow in Kentucky. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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