"What did you think? He did a hell of job, didn't he?" Cheney, the Republican, asked a packed bar of supporters at a restaurant in Montgomery, Ohio, after the debate.

"Big time!" he answered when someone in the crowd shouted the phrase to him. "He is exactly the kind of man we need to be president of the United States."

Lieberman, speaking to reporters outside a Georgian-style mansion at Eastern Kentucky University where he has been practicing for his own debate, said afterward that he was "very proud of Al Gore. I'm proud to be his running mate. I thought he was very strong tonight."

"Maybe I'm biased folks but I'd give Al a 10 for his debate performance. What would I give the governor? Less than 10, a 6 or 7," he said.

Cheney said the debate was "very effective" at establishing the clear philosophical differences between Gore's approach, "which clearly is they can't wait to get their hands on that surplus because they want to spend it," and Bush's approach which "says we want to give back to the American people the right to control more of their own lives."

Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, said he, too, was pleased that the differences came out and said Bush "never answered the question and the contention that Al Gore made, which is that 43 percent of the Bush-Cheney tax cut goes to the top 1 percent of the American people who make about $1 million a year."

Cheney, the Republican, and his wife Lynne watched the debate alongside diners in a private room at a popular rib joint in Montgomery, a Cincinnati suburb.

Montgomery is part of the congressional district of Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who has been helping Cheney rehearse for the debate by serving as a stand-in for Lieberman. Portman was "better at being Lieberman than Lieberman," Cheney joked as he traveled to Ohio from his home in Wyoming where he practiced for three days.

He said about a dozen aides watched him in the mock debates, laughingly declaring their critiques of him to be "brutal. ... but they were useful."

Cheney and Lieberman debate Thursday night at Centre College in Danville, Ky.

Lieberman spent Tuesday tussling with aides in mock debates at the Kentucky university. He also visited the university's student center, where he shook hands with students and teachers and met the school's football coach, Roy Kidd, who is four games away from 300 victories.

"I'm going to try to get a little of this winning spirit here," said Lieberman, pointing to the coach.

A quest for luck appeared to be a theme for Lieberman's day. He walked to the heart of campus to rub the left boot of a bronze statue of frontiersman Daniel Boone.

"Students rub it to get A's on their finals. I hope I'll get an A on my test Thursday night," Lieberman said with a smile.

Aides said he and Robert Barnett, a Washington lawyer who is playing Cheney in the practice runs, had gone through one full mock debate Monday night and another Tuesday. One more was planned for Wednesday.

Cheney, who hasn't debated since 1988 when he last ran for Congress, has participated in three uninterrupted 90-minute mock debates to get ready for the real thing.

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Associated Press writer Karen Gullo contributed to this report.