Gore by a nose, but not much more. I think Bush was handicapped going to the gate by his reluctance to accept the major network format of the debates, as well as the general expectation that Gore is the better debater.

I think Dubya did better than expected, and I was a little turned off by Gore's frequent interruptions of both the moderator and Bush. While entertaining, I myself thought it to be inconsiderate in a first debate. I suppose it could either show great enthusiasm, or great desperation.

I will vote for Gore, as I agree with him more on the issues. But I hope the next debate has fewer one-liners, such as "lock-box", and "fuzzy math", both so obviously written by campaign managers. Basically, the debate was a regurgitation of all the same campaign stuff we've already heard. Not much exciting, maybe the remaining debates will be better.