If you were looking for high drama, the first Martha Rainville-Mark Shepard debate was not the place to find it. The two candidates sat side by side in the Channel 17 studios in Burlington this morning. Radio talk show host Mark Johnson delivered the questions.

If, however, you thought all politicians are the same, the two did show differences. Among them:

Rainville is more supportive of how the war is going in Iraq.

Shepard is more inclined toward privatizing Social Security.

She is pro-choice on abortion. He is against it.

He is angry that the political parties have locked in their support for candidates before the primary (i.e. the Vermont Republican Party chose Rainville). She expressed no problem with it.

She supports Medicare Part D, which offers prescription drug insurance to seniors. He says the government can't afford it, and the program has not solved the soaring cost of drugs.

He doesn't think there should be a law limiting congressional terms. She said it's something she's considering.

The two will meet again Monday afternoon in front of state Sen. Bill Doyle's Johnson State College political science class and then on VPR's Switchboard on Sept. 4.

_ Terri Hallenbeck