Speaking in calm, even tones, Reagan outlined his support for further defense programs and defended his position that he can increase military expenditures, cut taxes and balance the budget.

On economic questions, Reagan was on the attack, pointing to Carter's own "misery index"--the combined figures of inflation and unemployment rates: and nothing that Carter had exceeded a level that he had once called necessary for reelection.

Harping on the situation of the nation's unemployed. Reagan said that setting a lower minimum wage for teenage minorities and moving jobs programs from the public to the private sector would ease the problem.

The former California governor promised to cut "fat and extravagance" from federal programs and lashed out at Carter's record on inflation. "We don't have inflation because the people are living too well," Reagan said, reiterating one of his most familiar campaign themes. "We have inflation because the government is living too well."

Carter defended his record on "humanitarian" issues and attacked Reagan's support of the Kemp-Roth tax bill, calling it a "heartless kind of approach" that would cut taxes primarily for the rich.

One of the few humorous moments of the debate--when the 200 reporters and 500 invited guests in the Music Hall disobeyed the rules asking them not to show feeling--came when Carter, in an answer to a question from Barbara Walters, joked that he was reluctant to say anything negative about Reagan.

At the beginning of the debate, moderator Howard K. Smith turned to the Music Hall audience and sardonically announced: "Welcome to Las Vegas on the lake, where a lot may depend on one throw of the dice."

After the debate, in the adjoining Public Hall--where the Republican Party nominated Calvin Coolidge in 1924--advisers for both candidates agreed that nobody had crapped out.

Reagan campaign chairman William J. Casey said the debate showed that Reagan was not a war monger and that Reagan came off as a "kind and soft fellow."

"I would not call it a knock-out, Casey said, but I would say that Reagan won a 15-round decision."

Casey's counterpart on the Democratic side, Robert S. Strauss, said he thought the debate showed "that Carter has grown in office" and that the debate "clearly demonstrated that the president knows these issues."

Richard B. Wirthlin, Reagan's chief pollster, said his candidate looked both "at ease and strong" simultaneously. "We thought the person on the defensive would lose," Wirthlin said, "but that wasn't the case."

Wirthlin said that although Carter set the grounds for the debate, "when people listen to the governor speak for a long period of time they see him as effective and also as a warm and compassionate individual."

An ABC television phone-in survey of more than 500,000 viewers supported - what Reagan advisers said, with twice as many respondents saying they thought Reagan won the debate.

Carter advisers Patrick Caddell and Gregory Schneider disagreed with the Republican assessment.

The candidates discussed "Democratic issues," Schneider said, adding that Carter was successful in targeting his answers "to reach those elements of the population that are still undecided."

Bush, who ran through the public hall where more than 1500 reporters had camped out, said that Reagan did not let Carter distort his record in California, adding that the president "could say nothing to defend his failed record on the economy."

Caddell said that by defending himself throughout the debate, Reagan "hurt himself badly." Both sides said they were conducting surveys and would release results later in the week.

One of the most familiar faces at the debate, Henry A. Kissinger '50, offered his opinion as he ran off to a Reagan party at Cleveland's Stouffer's Inn. "I think Reagan won," Kissinger said, as he walked quickly to escape reporters, "but, of course, I started that way.