On Tuesday, October 3, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush had their first of three scheduled debates at the campus of the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Jim Lehrer of PBS moderated the ninety-minute debate, shown during prime time. The debate featured spirited dialogue on many issues that will be very important in this election. Also important in the debate was the way each candidate appeared to the people watching at home. Going into the debate, most polls showed Bush and Gore locked in a dead heat, increasing the importance of the debate.
The first question of the night went to Gore. Lehrer asked him to explain what he meant when he questioned whether or not Bush had the experience to be president. Gore never answered the question fully, however he was trying to draw a major distinction when he said, "Will we use our prosperity to enrich not just the few but all of our families?" Bush countered by saying, "It's the difference between government making decisions for you and you getting more of your money to make decisions for yourself." From the beginning of the debate, each candidate stayed on these themes.
There were questions on many issues posed of the presidential contenders, including a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, the abortion pill RU-486, education, Social Security, tax cuts, oil prices, and foreign policy.
Bush repeatedly said that Al Gore used "fuzzy math" when Gore was arguing that Bush would squander the surplus, give a tax cut primarily to the rich, or have a prescription drug benefit that would not help middle-class seniors for four or five years.
Making a joke, Bush remarked, "I'm beginning to think, not only did he invent the Internet, but he invented the calculator." Bush also questioned Gore's ability to tell the truth, saying, "Sounds like the vice president is not very right many times tonight." He also questioned Al Gore's credibility on the issue of campaign finance reform, citing the Democratic fund-raising scandal of 1996.
Bush appeared weak on foreign policy. When asked about the crisis in Yugoslavia, he said that we should include Russia. Gore called Bush on it, mentioning that Russia does not support our decisions about the victor of the recent election. Bush replied, "Well, obviously we wouldn't use the Russians if they didn't agree with our answer, Mr. Vice President."
Gore made the point the he supported the FDA's decision on the abortion pill and chided Bush for suggesting that the FDA rushed the decision. Gore also said that he would put judges on the Supreme Court who would likely support Roe vs. Wade. Gore said that Bush was using the code phrase "strict constructionist" to mean that Bush's justices would overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Gore admitted he made an error when he said that he had gone to Texas with the FEMA director when Texas was suffering from wildfires. He in fact did not.
How the first debate affected the polls was not very evident. Gore and Bush both maintained the same poll numbers.
The major change since the debate has been that the poll numbers for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader have gone from 3 to 5 percent. Most of the polls, including CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC, show viewers thought that Gore won the debate.