BOSTON--Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore '69 met in debate for the first time last night, engaging in relatively substantive exchanges that emphasized their significant differences on a range of social and economic policies.

The 90-minute debate, in a retrofitted gymnasium at the University of Massachusetts in South Boston, stayed mostly to the script. But while there was no defining moment of the contest, the two men managed to delineate their governing philosophies sharply.

Bush portrayed the vice president as a creature of Washington who does not trust the American people to spend the budget surplus themselves.

Gore stressed his depth and mastery of policy issues, subtly questioning the wisdom and practicality of his opponent's policies.

Gore repeatedly used Bush's plans for the projected budget surplus to highlight a major difference between the two candidates, arguing that Bush's plan would use a large proportion of the surplus for tax cuts that would benefit only the very rich.

"Under Governor Bush's tax cut proposal, he would spend more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent than all of the new spending he proposes for health care, prescription drug and national defense all combined," Gore said.

Bush retorted that Gore would enlarge the role and scope of the federal government with his proposals, and said the vice president's tax plan, which offers a range of targeted tax breaks, amounted to "picking and choosing" which Americans would benefit. He said that a single mother with two children earning about $22,000 would not benefit from Gore's tax cuts.

"His plan is three times larger than President Clinton's proposed plan eight years ago," Bush said later. "It has expanded programs and created 20,000 more bureaucrats."