FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A day after their polite debate, Dick Cheney turned the volume back up on his criticism of Al Gore. Joseph Lieberman pledged to steer clear of personal attacks.

Cheney said that Gore is not telling the truth about the state of the military, that his tax cut comments are "hogwash" and that Gore has an "uncontrollable desire to ... add to his record things that are not true."

The GOP vice presidential candidate's tone was decidedly more aggressive and acerbic than in the quiet differences of opinion he voiced the night before in a debate with Lieberman.

Across the country at a rally in Orlando, Fla., Lieberman said he and Gore would not go negative.

"We're taking a pledge, we're not going to involve ourselves in negative personal attacks," Lieberman said as he stood with Gore and the vice president's wife, Tipper.

"That's not what this campaign ought to be about, right?" Lieberman said to a crowd of about 1,500 at an outdoor amphitheater. "That was what the debate was about last night and when we debate the issues, I think the American people see the difference."

At least some voters agreed. After the Lieberman-Cheney debate, 38-year-old Herbert Hays Thompson of Jackson, Miss., said, "They should be running for president and the other guys vice president."

However, on Friday, Cheney was getting personal and impolite.

Gore, he said, has "misrepresented the facts" on everything from how much his mother-in-law paid for medicine to how much he had to do with campaign finance legislation.

"This is a man who has significant accomplishments," said Cheney, noting Gore's 24 years in various offices. "But he has an uncontrollable desire to add to his reputation and his record things that are not true."

"I think it's perfectly appropriate during the course of the campaign to point out if somebody who would be president of the United States has a credibility problem. I think he has a credibility problem," Cheney said.

Asked why he didn't make such charges more aggressively during Thursday night's debate, with millions of viewers watching, Cheney said, "I was answering Bernie Shaw's questions. I liked the debate last night. I thought it went fine."

He added: "What would I talk to you guys about if I used all my material last night?"

Lieberman, asked about some of Cheney's negative comments about Gore on Friday, said, "I was disappointed to hear that."

"Overall, you know, Al and I have been saying ... we don't want to have a lot negative personal attacks. I was pleased that we didn't and I hope that Dick Cheney and George Bush will continue."

Cheney said he and Lieberman joked after the debate that they had wasted a lot of debate preparation time practicing "more aggressive options" they never used.

"I think both of us preferred to do it the way we did it last night," said Cheney. "I feel good about it and I think Joe Lieberman does, too."