presidential campaigns, it is fair to say that they offer voters a picture of the candidates under pressure, and a chance to assess personal qualities and defects. What is said, in many instances, is not nearly as important as the way it is said.

On that basis, Tuesday's confrontation in Boston between Al Gore and George W.

Bush was successful for both candidates, and revealing to voters. The vice president seized the opportunity to demonstrate his penchant for policy; the governor explained his guiding principles and vision of government.

Mr. Bush had the greater challenge: Mr. Gore has been Bill Clinton's vice president for seven and a half years, and there is little that is mysterious about him or his opinions. Governor Bush, however, is the new kid on the block. And so while Mr. Gore showed his forcefulness and mastery of statistics and detail, Mr. Bush demonstrated four important things: his knowledge of issues, his ability to fend off Mr. Gore's assaults, the likely direction that a Bush administration would take, and his pleasant temperament.

Neither candidate knocked the other off balance, and both showed they are duly qualified to be president. Governor Bush was even-handed, affable and informed; but more important, he rose to every challenge Vice President Gore laid down. Moreover, while the vice president sometimes wavered on the side of condescension -- talking down to his opponent, smirking, sighing heavily off camera -- the governor generally remained steady, unshaken and congenial. Both candidates had their strong and weak moments.

It is also worth noting that Governor Bush scored two important points. First, he painted a persuasive picture of himself as a thoughtful outsider with fresh ideas, and a successful chief executive who would come to Washington to get things done. And second, he pleaded, time and again, for an end to partisan rancor, citing his experience as governor of Texas. In an election as close as this one, when undecided voters are critical to the outcome, such appeals are welcome, and could make a difference in the campaign's final weeks. -- Providence Journal Tribune