[George W. Bush] dismissed that as "fuzzy math." But while it is somewhat misleading, it's in the ballpark. [Gore] inflated the size of the Bush tax cut going to the very rich; for instance, he included the extra interest costs the Bush plan would incur by implementing a tax cut instead of paying down the national debt. Gore also included Bush's plan for estate tax relief, which disproportionally helps the rich.

On education, meanwhile, Bush tried to poke holes in some of Gore's promises. Gore, for instance, suggested that he and Bush were in sync on plans to impose new accountability for students and teachers. "We agree on a couple of things on education," Gore said. "I strongly support new accountability."

On the issue of teacher testing, Bush supports testing all teachers for competence, while Gore supports primarily testing new teachers. Gore also asserted that he wants to test all students every year for proficiency in key subjects. However, prominent educators have said Gore's plan to use the National Assessment of Educational Progress would have to be dramatically altered to meet Gore's pledge.