ome of the rhetorical flourishes were impressive. Even the laugh lines, spontaneous or not, had some impact. But when it came to the facts, both Vice President Al Gore and Governor George W. Bush sometimes left voters misinformed and confused last night.
Faced with deliberate, even painstaking, questioning from moderator Jim Lehrer, both men seemed to avoid - and even appeared to be trying to avoid - making major misstatements of fact before a massive television audience.
Nonetheless, Gore erroneously left senior citizens thinking that they would get no prescription drug benefits for four to five years if Bush becomes president. That's not so. And Bush, having already announced plans to spend or allocate the entire anticipated federal budget surplus, barely paused when challenged about where he would get a trillion dollars more in funding needed for Social Security.
''The trillion comes from the surplus. Surplus is money, more money than needed,'' Bush declared.
And, despite past statements from both that suggested otherwise, Gore said he had not questioned whether Bush has enough experience to be president, while Bush denied he had questioned Gore's leadership ability.
When it came to tax cuts, the two men disputed each other's tax cut proposals and the economic assumptions underlying them, so much so that viewers could not help but be confused.
At one point, Bush said Gore's tax cut plan would exclude 50 million Americans. ''Not so,'' Gore shot back. By most estimates, Gore is more nearly correct.
But when Bush urged more drilling for oil in Alaska, Gore sought to undermine Bush's argument with an estimate of the potential supply that is well below what experts believe is there.
With prescription drug cost relief for the elderly a major campaign issue, the two men clashed over their starkly different plans. And while the cost of Gore's plan suggests it would provide substantially greater benefits, Gore appeared to understate the help that Bush's plan would provide.
''Ninety-five percent of all seniors would get no help whatsoever, under my opponent's plan, for the first four or five years,'' Gore declared.
This is not quite true, according to specialists. Under Bush's plan, seniors would not be guaranteed money for prescription drugs. But many could in fact get quick prescription drug relief under the Bush plan.
Bush would distribute $48 billion among states as part of his ''Immediate Helping Hand'' to assist seniors immediately while Congress was working on his larger Medicare overhaul. That money is supposed to be used by states to give all poor seniors full drug coverage, offer partial relief to those slightly better off, and cover all costs above $6,000 in annual expenses for all seniors. But states aren't forced to do so, though it is likely most would try.
Currently, 23 states, including Massachusetts, have mechanisms for providing prescription drug coverage. These states would likely be able to offer coverage quickly. Others may take longer. So there is no guarantee but there is a strong possibility that many seniors would get some coverage in the first year, contrary to what Gore said.
Later, when the two sparred over Gore's opposition to oil exploration in Alaska's wilderness, the vice president asserted that new oil drawn from there would only ''give us a few months of oil.'' In fact, experts says, the amount of crude oil under the ground could give the country enough oil to last more than two years.
Bush, a former oilman, wants to drill for oil on 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to help reduce the country's reliance on foreign oil. Energy specialists have said that 5 to 16 billion barrels of crude oil could be pumped out of the frozen ground.
Americans use, on average, 18 million barrels of oil a day, or about 540 million barrels a month. Even if there were only 5 billion barrels from Alaska, there would be enough oil for more than nine months. And if the high end is used, it is around 30 months, or about 21/2 years.
While the amount of oil under the tundra is no permanent answer to the United States' long-term energy needs, it would last longer than what Gore said. The issue of domestic drilling has been a huge one in the campaign, with Gore adamantly against any drilling in Alaska's wildlife reservations, saying it would destroy some of the nation's most pristine natural resources.
On education, too, the two candidates differed. Bush at one point misstated Gore's position. Bush contended that Gore favors ''voluntary testing,'' as opposed to the Republican's proposal for annual mandatory tests for students.
But Gore's plan would require tests, though not as strictly as Bush's would. According to the vice president's plan, states would have until 2004 to adopt the National Assessment of Education Progress tests now used in most states, or to design their own.
As for spending federal education dollars, Gore charged that the Texas Republican supported ''vouchers'' - public money that would go to parents to spend on tuition at a school of their choice.
Given that vouchers are a controversial policy tool, seen by some as sapping funds from public schools, Bush rarely if ever uses the word. And he speaks at length about supporting public schools. Yet last night, toward the end of a long answer, Bush made this nod to using vouchers at private schools: He said he favored letting parents use public funds for ''a public school, charter school, a tutorial, a Catholic school.''
Moderator Lehrer, relying on the public record, asked Gore what he meant when he questioned whether Bush has the experience to be president.
''I have actually not questioned Governor Bush's experience; I have questioned his proposals,'' Gore replied. In an April interview with the New York Times, Gore was asked whether Bush has the experience to be president. Bush's proposed tax cut, Gore replied, ''raises the question, `Does he have the experience to be president?'''
Bush, who has set new campaign spending records this year, insisted at one point that Gore ''has outspent me.'' But Bush spent $50 million more than Gore to win his party's nomination. So far in the general election campaign, Bush has also outspent Gore.
John Long, Beth Daley, Patrick Healy and Glen Johnson, all of the Globe Staff, contributed to this report.
