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."