Gore vs. Bradley: Get Ready for a Wonkfest

Expect the most muted of fireworks. Al Gore and Bill Bradley finally get to face off live on television Wednesday night, but in a game of Horse rather than one-on-one. Rather than hold a direct debate, the two largely centrist policy wonks will appear side by side at a Democratic party town meeting. "The real excitement," says TIME Washington correspondent Karen Tumulty, "will be the degree to which they're drawn into interacting." And if Gore's pregame trash-talking is anything to go by, he’s ready for a professorial rumble — in the weeks preceding the face-off, Gore has painted his challenger as an old-school liberal whose sweeping policy proposals aren't grounded in fiscal reality. "Gore is on the offensive because he has to convince people that there are differences of substance between himself and Bradley," says Tumulty. "Because if Democrats perceive the difference between them as being simply one of style, they're more likely to prefer Bradley."

Rather than try and loosen Gore's lock on the party's traditional center, Bradley has defined the Democratic primary season as a battle to win the party’s left flank. The former senator from New Jersey's voting record and policy positions position him well to take advantage of liberals' disappointment with the Clinton administration. And he's pressed home his appeal to the left with big, liberal-friendly policy initiatives in an era of incremental shuffling. He wants to spend $65 billion on health care for all, $10 billion on combating child poverty, and extend full civil rights to gays. "Gore's presenting him as a dangerous liberal whose policies will destroy the village in order to save it," says Tumulty. "But if he's too aggressive tonight, he risks alienating many undecided liberals." Despite the ideological posturing, both candidates are cut from the same New Democrat cloth, and issues of style will play a major role. But being a battle for the hearts and minds of the Democratic left, the televised match-up is more likely to be more about the whole policy schmear than personal smear.