`Chasm' emerges between Spitzer, Faso; Debate for governor shows sharp differences between candidates.(Main)

Byline: ELIZABETH BENJAMIN Capitol bureau

The major party candidates for governor hewed closely to their contrasting political ideologies during the first general election debate Tuesday, with Democrat Eliot Spitzer playing the progressive reformer and Republican John Faso the conservative tax cutter.

The hourlong debate at Cornell University in Ithaca demonstrated that voters will have a clear choice Nov. 7 between two candidates with clear ideological differences. Although the two agreed at the outset on reinstating the death penalty, they spent the rest of the evening sparring over their differences on abortion rights, tax cuts and a spate of other issues.

Spitzer, the state attorney general, said the debate showed a "chasm between us."

Spitzer, who has a 50-point lead in …