Edged attacks, wry humor and sharp differences on issues from taxes and state government corruption to gay marriage and abortion brought a Cornell audience, and viewers across the state, a lively first gubernatorial debate between Democrat Eliot Spitzer and Republican John Faso on Sept. 26.

Televised across New York from Cornell's Bailey Hall, the debate was the first face-to-face standoff between the two candidates and the first New York gubernatorial debate between major party candidates in 24 years. Cornell hosted the debate with the New York State League of Women Voters and Time Warner Cable. State Attorney General Spitzer, the odds-on favorite to win the general election for governor, promised to reform corruption in Albany, lighten New Yorkers' property tax burden and provide more support for K-12 and higher education funding.

He repeatedly pointed to his record of prosecuting pharmaceutical companies and alleged corruption on Wall Street during his tenure as attorney general, saying he would bring that same passion and attention to principle to the governor's seat.

"What I think is what I say, and what I say is what I do," Spitzer said.

Both candidates agreed that reform of the "status quo" government in Albany is badly needed. Faso, the former leader of the Republican minority in the State Assembly, also stressed repeatedly his promises to slash taxes by eliminating New York estate and capital gains taxes and capping local school tax levies to keep property taxes down. He proposed spending "not a penny more" in next year's state budget over the current year.

"The key to controlling spending is to put the state budget on a diet," Faso said.

He later said that he is a strong supporter of the State University of New York system -- and, indeed, would be the only New York governor in history who was a graduate of the SUNY system.

Spitzer said he would not cut state aid to the SUNY system as governor and that he would work to fulfill a recent state Court of Appeals mandate to fully fund New York City public schools.

Faso called Spitzer's school tax reform plan "a joke," saying it would raise the property tax burden on average New Yorkers by avoiding a cap on local schools' tax levies -- a key part of Faso's budget plan.

Spitzer reminded the audience that Faso's own party had called him "out of touch," and that Faso had called the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade abortion ruling a "black mark" on the country. He also criticized Faso's voting record, saying he had once voted against a law that would have guaranteed women "equal pay for equal work."

"You march to a very bizarre drummer," Spitzer said.

Faso retorted that Spitzer was mischaracterizing his vote on equal pay, and that he (Faso) had actually read the legislation before voting -- unlike some of his colleagues, and no doubt, Spitzer's debate briefers, he jabbed.

"The bill was not equal pay for equal work," Faso said. "It was equal pay for different work."

The four panelists of news anchors and reporters asked the candidates to expound on such hot topics as taxes and the economy, but also on such social issues as abortion -- Faso is pro-life, Spitzer pro-choice -- and the legalization of gay marriage.

Spitzer said he would not prioritize legalizing gay marriage in New York as an issue of greater priority than revitalizing the economy but that he believes in "equality before the law."

Faso was firm in his stance against the idea of gay marriage, saying he refused, unlike Spitzer, to "force gay marriage down the throats" of New Yorkers, the majority of whom, he asserted, do not want it legalized.